The BPP mourns the loss of its Honorary President Dr. Hans-Karl Penning, who has passed away at the age of 83. He had joined the BPP in 1981 and examined numerous areas of German local issues and Saxonian blackenings until 2021. Dr. Penning was elected Treasurer as early as 1990 and succeeded Günter Bechtold as President in 1999. For a total of twelve years, Dr. Penning led the expertizers’ association in his own calm and considered manner, which earned him great trust and the highest esteem throughout German philately. He brought order and clarity to the association’s regulations, which were initially incomplete and not always perfectly formulated, reformed the philatelic definitions, introduced new attestation guidelines and worked with great dedication on the two-stage admission procedure for new members, through which the self-imposed quality standards for the examinations were and are kept high. In 2011, Dr. Penning handed over his office to his successor Christian Geigle. The award of the Köhler Medal and his election as Honorary President of the BPP recognized his outstanding services to the examination system.
Dr. Penning himself was also a dedicated collector with impressive knowledge, which he presented to an interested readership in numerous publications. In 2008, he wrote the book “50 Jahre Philatelistischer Prüfer” (50 Years of the German Philatelic Experts’ Association), a fascinating outline of all the ups and downs of the expertizing business in Germany.
Dr. Hans-Karl Penning has shaped the BPP like hardly any other member. We are extremely grateful to him for this. This includes his dear wife Hiltraut, who always supported him and accompanied her husband to the general meeting every year. It was there that rebellious colleagues would get to hear a few words from her.
Dr. Hans-Karl Penning passed away on 1 March 2025. Our condolences go to his wife and family, who accompanied him admirably in the last years of his life. We will always remember him fondly.
