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The first major stamp fair of the year was once again a successful event with many dealers, working groups and visitors thanks to the perfect organization of APHV Chairman Wolfgang Lang.

Accordingly, around 140 visitors were keen to present their stamps and collections at the BPP e.V. stand. In addition to advice on “genuine or false”, the question of the expertizers responsible for the collecting area and questions about the utilization of inherited and/or accumulated collections were central topics.

The BPP e.V. with expertizers from the various collecting areas will therefore continue to be present in the future for the benefit of collectors. This includes, for example, the stamp fair in Löhne/Westphalia and the Southwest Fair in Ulm.

(BPP) In April 2024, the BPP was able to acquire the archive of German postmarks, estimated at 500,000 to 600,000 postmarks, which had been collected over decades in the “Post & Telekommunikation” museum foundation and brought to Berlin from various storage locations throughout Germany. On January 30 and 31, 2025, twelve BPP members (and the wife of the Vice President) actively helped to lift this treasure and pack it for transportation.

A look at the ever-fuller pallets

By the end of the second working day, almost 600 boxes had been stacked on a total of twelve Euro pallets, labeled according to area and content and recorded on the computer. The project manager, board member Josef Bauer, was visibly relieved that the project went off without a hitch: “The colleagues did a great job and worked with the utmost care, there were no problems whatsoever. What’s more, everyone was delighted to gain a first insight into this unique stroke of luck for the testing industry.”

Happy faces while packing the stamp inserts

A big thank you goes to the responsible employee at the foundation, Mr. Thomas Kahlbom, who helped with advice and support at all times on both days. The head of the foundation, Dr. Veit Didczuneit, was also an interested observer of the goings-on in his depot and fortified the team with an afternoon coffee, which everyone gratefully enjoyed.

The BPP has thus taken the first step on the long journey towards the complete digitization of its stamp collection. “We will now carefully consider which sub-area we want to start digitization with. With the help of AI-based individual software, we hope to find a feasible and, above all, affordable way to scan and read the stamps and store them in a database in such a way that our examiners can easily find all the stamps they are interested in and use them for their work,” said President Christian Geigle in his closing address to the somewhat tired helpers.

The participants all agreed on one thing: these two days together were great fun. Even if the arms got longer and longer at the end…

The team (from left to right): Andreas Schlegel, Michael Haslau, Michael Ehrig, Carsten Brekenfeld, Ariane Provinsky, Christian Geigle, Dr. Peter Provinsky, Dr. Michael Jasch, Thomas Kahlbom (Foundation employee), Oliver Estelmann, Josef Bauer, Hans-Dieter Schlegel, Dr. Karsten Ruscher (Andreas Rolle is missing)

The following of our examiners will be available at the stand:

Saturday, 01.03.: Detlef Pfeiffer and Dieter Weinbuch, in the afternoon additionally Arnold Goller

Sunday, 02.03.: Detlef Pfeiffer and Maximilian Lummer

As of 31 December 2024, the following BPP association auditors have duly ended their auditing activities:

Hans Enger, expertising area: Norway

Peter Harlos, expertising areas: Württemberg – “Wohnungsbau”-stamps; Germany – “Notopfer”-stamps

Wolfgang Windel, expertising area: Haiti

We would like to thank all three colleagues for decades of successful expertising in the BPP, wish them all the best for the future and are pleased that all three will continue to be senior members of the BPP. Andreas Rolle and Andreas Wehner are available for the ‘Württemberg – “Wohnungsbau”-stamps’ expertising area, and Andreas Rolle for the ‘Germany – “Notopfer”-stamps’ expertising area. The ‘Norway’ and ‘Haiti’ expertising areas will remain vacant for the time being.

Ulrike ‘Uli’ Berger, the wife of our honorary member Florian Berger, passed away unexpectedly for all of us on 14 December 2024. The Berger couple not only ran their examination office for various Old German areas very successfully for decades, but also supported the BPP for many years in the training and examination of young examiners. The term ‘Limburg’ was coined for the obligatory preliminary examinations of new applicants because these examinations were held every year for a whole weekend at the Berger family’s premises near Limburg. Uli Berger was a great hostess who made it easier for the often excited candidates to face the exam with coffee, tea and cake. Everyone involved will have fond memories of the delicious home-cooked lunch.

We are very grateful to Uli Berger for her support of the BPP. Florian Berger has always emphasised that he could not have achieved his life’s work without the help of his wife. We wish him all the very best and will always remember his wonderful wife fondly.