Commemorative stamp series - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1985 - 85 Pfennig

Technical monuments - steam engines With the illustrations of historical steam engines, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic issues two multicolored special postage stamps. Special cancellations from July 9 to September 8, 1985 Technical monuments - steam engine 200 years ago, the first German Wattscher steam engine was built on the König-Friedrich-Schacht near Hettstedt and commissioned on August 23, 1785 for the recovery of water from the local copper shale mines , Previously there had been in England since 1712, in what is now the territory of the GDR since 1745 for the lifting of water in mines Newcomen machines, but only the Watt steam engine was suitable as an engine for the factories that in the wake of the Industrial Revolution - in England from 1770, in Germany from about 1800 - numerous emerged and gave rise to the formation of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. According to this importance of the steam engine for the development of productive forces, the Hettstedter Steam Engine of 1785 marked the beginning of the construction and application of thousands of design, performance and application of different piston steam engines in Germany. Until the 20th century piston steam engines were used to drive the numerous machine tools and machine tools in the textile industry, mechanical engineering, mining and metallurgy and many other branches of production as well as in transport (steamer and steam locomotives). The commemoration year "200 years of the first German steam engine" gives occasion to open up the still preserved historical piston machines as technical monuments socially. On the special Postwertzeichen two of the oldest of the approximately 60 in the GDR still existing piston steam engines are presented. 85 Pfennig value: balancing steam engine The balance steam engine of 1848 on the pit "Alte Elisabeth", Freiberg, no box was required because the crankshaft and flywheel are mounted laterally and the movement of the piston rod (right) to the connecting rod ( Balancier machines were particularly typical of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century The Freiberg Balancier steam engine was used as a carrier for ore and rock from the 400 m deep shaft The rope drums for winding and unwinding the hoisting ropes were driven by a gear drive from the crankshaft (pictured left).