Olympic Winter Games, Grenoble - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1968 - 10 Pfennig

X. Olympic Winter Games To the X. Olympic Winter Games in Grenoble In 1968, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic issued six special stamps. The contract will be made available to the Society for the promotion of the Olympic idea in the GDR. X. Olympic Winter Games It has become a good tradition of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic to issue special stamps on the occasion of the Olympic Games. It shows not only respect for the Olympic ideals, but above all the importance that our socialist social order attaches to physical culture and sport. The commemorative stamps for the X. Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble (France) honor an event that marks an anniversary of the round number and takes place for the second time in the home country of the founder of the modern-day Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It is an event that for the first time does not oblige German athletes to be excluded from the wintry world sports festival on French soil - as in Chamonix in 1924. For the winter athletes of our German Democratic Republic, Grenoble itself is meaningful, because our representation will go for the first time as a separate team at the start. This team represents the first German peace state, which has broken forever with the unfortunate German past of megalomania, belligerence and contempt for the people. If this is the substantive meaning of this new brand series, she wants to sport as versatile as possible the Olympic disciplines symbolize that are particularly operated and promoted in our country due to its geographical and climatic conditions: speed skating and figure skating, racing sled and ice hockey and skiing, with the slalom and cross-country skiing in this series is representative of all ski disciplines. On purpose such important disciplines as biathlon and special jumping have been disregarded because they have been honored several times on special stamps of the German Democratic Republic (Olympic Games 1960 and 1963 (ski jumpers) and the biathlon series on the occasion of the World Championships in Altenberg 1967). The graphic designers Rudolf Platzer and Dietrich Dorfstecher wanted to make clear both the diversity of the Olympic Winter Games disciplines, as well as their beauty in the movement process and its dynamics, without restricting itself to a purely naturalistic reproduction. On a brighter background, with an arrangement of numerals, characters and olympic rings that is the same for all brands, they have effectively composed the athletes into this graphic ensemble. Although they did not necessarily break new ground, but achieved - together with the graded blue tint of the individual brands - a closed effect of the brand series, without at the same time the individual brand to take their specific face. The dialectical unity of the collective in the variety of its possibilities, forms and relationships - a typical expression of socialist human community - is thus to find an artistic expression in this series. The special stamps keep in the friendly competition of the national postal administration to the Olympic Games for form, color and design within the limits of artistic simplicity and clarity. But they do want to awaken thoughts that are worthy and worthy of the Olympic Movement and its worldwide significance. This second special stamp series of the German Democratic Republic for the Olympic Winter Games will certainly not only delight the collectors and the Olympic enthusiasts, but at the same time remind them that our country since 1956 with Harry Glass, Helmut Recknagel, Helga Haase (gold and silver 1960), Thomas Köhler, Klaus Bonsack, Ortrun Enderlein and Ilse Geisler already has seven winners of eight Olympic Winter Games medals. The brands should also encourage the viewer to imitate the greats of these sports depending on their own assets. The first is truly "participate in sports" (Johannes R. Becher), means in addition to collecting, donations and watching the heights of the Olympics.