Reichspost
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reichspost was the name of the postal service in the Holy Roman Empire founded by Franz von Taxis in 1495.
In modern times Deutsche Reichspost was established as a state monopoly at the 1871 unification of Germany and was the official German national postal authority. The Reichspost ceased to function with the end of WWII.
After WWII initially allied-controlled postal authorities provided mail services. Eventually the Deutsche Bundespost (German federal post office) was established in West Germany and the Deutsche Post of the GDR in East Germany. In addition, there was a separate Deutsche Bundespost Berlin for West Berlin, and the Saar postal authority (1947-1956). After the unification in 1990, the Bundespost continued to function as the sole provider of postal services until in 1995 it was changed to Deutsche Post AG (share holding company)[1].
[edit] Notes
The German word Reich does not necessarily refer to a monarchy; it usually means "state" or "nation" in the sense of national.
There was also an Austrian daily newspaper with the same name from 1894 to 1938.
