The old pre Hitler communists returned by air from their exile at the Luxe Hotel in Moscow on April 30th, 1945. Their motto was, everything must look democratic, but we must control everything. Was this the formula for success? So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This is a common bulk postage stamp that exists in most all collections. So why am I writing it up? Well, despite owning this stamp for over 40 years, I had no idea who this guy was. Let us extrapolate that I am not the only one and expand our storehouse of knowledge.
Today stamp is issue A189, a 10 pfennig stamp issued by East Germany starting in 1961. There were 17 issues in different denominations coming out as late as 1971. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether mint or used. As bulk postage, an intact 8 stamp booklet pane is rarer, and pushes the value to $10.50.
Walter Ulbricht was born in Leipzig in 1893, the son of a tailor. He studied as a carpenter and though very opposed to the wat, was drafted into the World War I German Army. In 1918 he deserted while serving in the Balkans and was jailed. After the war Ulbricht was radicalized and rose quickly in the ranks of the Communist party. He was a street brawler who often fought with his contemporary Nazi and Monarchist street brawlers. There was an interesting night in 1931 when Ulbricht debated the also then out of power local Nazi head Josef Goebbels. The debate got so heated that the two men came to blows and a riot ensued.
When the Nazis came to power, Ulbricht went into exile first in Paris then in Spain. In Spain his job was to rout out and assassinate Germans fighting on the Republican side of the Spanish civil war who were not adequately loyal to Stalin. He then moved to Moscow at the famous Luxe Hotel with other international communists. This was during Stalin’s purges and he was very suspicious of residents of that luxury hotel as a den of spies. Many were removed in the middle of the night. Of the 1400 German communists that went into exile, 222 were killed by the Nazis and 178 were killed by Stalin. No word on how many the monarchists got.
Back in Germany in 1945, Ulbricht proved very effective at routing out rivals who could not be relied upon. He was appointed head of state in 1963 under the new title Chairman, his predecessor had been President. He tried to lessen influence of the west and stem the flow of German goodies eastward. Fellow Warsaw Pact countries would have to pay for more advanced East German technology and goods. No more reparations.
Ulbrecht was very concerned about western youth culture seeping into East Germany. He gave a famous “Yea, yea, yea” speech asking his comrades if it was correct to import every piece of western dirt just to have the young mindlessly chant yea, yea, yea referring to the lyrics of the Beatles song “She loves you”.
Ulbricht’s concerns culminated in requesting permission from the Soviets for building the Berlin wall that forever tainted his legacy. In his last years he was not popular in the east either as he never forgot to remind that East Germany was the wealthiest communist nation. He died in 1973.
Ulbricht married twice and also had an out of wedlock child between. His last wife Lotte was his secretary during his years at the Luxe Hotel in Moscow. Being younger, she stayed on in Berlin till 2002 in a house on Majakowskiring, the street of mansions that had been set aside for East Germany’s rulers. After German reunification, she attributed the failure of East Germany on Ulbrecht’s successors.
Well my drink is empty and this fellow seems a little rough around the edges to toast, so instead I will toast nice beards. Very few can pull it off. Come again next Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.
Writers Note. This is the first all new article I have written since spring. Google adsense demonetized me and so I could not continue to crank out five articles a week. I did miss it though, so I will start again writing one new article a week that will publish on Mondays.