Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm von Stephan (born Heinrich Stephan, January 7, 1831 – April 8, 1897) was a general post director for the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

who reorganized the German

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1874, and in 1877 introduced the

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

to Germany.

Biography

Stephan was born in Stolp (Słupsk),

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. He began his career as a local postal clerk in the service of the Prussian post in 1849. In 1866 he was put in charge by the Prussian government of federalizing the postal service that had long been privately run by the noble

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (, ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the mail, postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and ...

family. In 1870 he was named director of postal services for the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...

. Stephan's career then moved quickly up the ranks, as he was named Postmaster General of the German Empire in 1876, the

Undersecretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

in charge of the post office in 1880, and the Minister of Postal Services for Germany in 1895. When Stephan began his work as a postal worker, Germany was divided into 17 independent states, each with its own separate policies and fees. He worked early on to establish a uniform postage rate throughout Germany, to facilitate easier mailing. His general goal of standardization and internationalization is evident in his work to combine the postal service with the

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

service in Germany, and in his efforts to organize the International Postal Conference in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

in 1874, in which the Universal Postal Union was established. He introduced the postcard (which he had initially suggested in 1865) to Germany after Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

promoted him in 1870: the postcard came into widespread use in the subsequent

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870-71 as a method of communication between units in the field. He is also credited with having introduced the telephone to Germany.Huurdeman, Anton A. (2003) ''The Worldwide History of Telecommunications'' Wiley-IEEE, New York
pages 169–171
Stephan died in 1897 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, having made a profound impact on the standardization of mail service worldwide. He was also actively engaged in cultivating purely Germanic terminology for the field of telecommunication and postal services. The German-speaking afterworld thus gained terms such as "Fernsprechapparat" (distance-speaking-device) for telephone, "Wertzeichen" (value-sign) for stamp, "postlagernd" (post-office-stored) for poste restante and "Anschrift" (towards-lettering, analogous to "Ansprache" or "Anrede" for addressing a person or a salutation) for address. The word creations mandated by von Stephan in the 1870s gained circulation at post offices and among its workforce, but many times the Greek or French original term was retained by German speakers. Thus at home people would say "frankieren" for putting stamps on a postcard or letter envelope (Briefumschlag) among themselves, but switch to "freimachen" (absolve from stamp-debt, thus permitting delivery) when at the post office. Or at home they would say "Telefon" in everyday speech, although the arcane official term was "Fernsprecher" (remote speaker) or Fernsprechapparat. His achievements in the field of postal services far outweigh this pedantic purism and it was his proposal to have the Siemens company manufacture telephones which led to the development of an entirely new business segment for the famous German company in 1878. Hvstephan-tomb

Orders and decorations

German honours

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

2nd Class, on Black Band (1870) (

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

) * Knight 2nd Class of the Order of the Red Eagle, with Oak Leaves, ''1873''; with Star, ''26 October 1874''; Grand Cross with Oak Leaves, ''27 January 1894'' (Prussia) * Knight 1st Class of the Royal Order of the Crown, ''18 January 1880'' (Prussia) * 1885 Ennoblement by Kaiser Wilhelm I, King of Prussia * Commander's Cross and Star of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern, ''1 February 1892'' (Prussia) * Grand Cross of the House Order of Albert the Bear, ''1881'' ( Anhalt) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Zahringer Lion, ''1882'' (

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Saint Michael, ''1872'' (

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

) * Grand Cross of the

Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order ()Hausorden
Herzogliche Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha was a ...

( Ernestine duchies) * Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous, ''25 August 1880'' (

Hesse and by Rhine The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...

) * Honour Cross 1st Class of the House Order of Lippe (

Lippe-Detmold Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest. It originated as a state during the Holy Roman Empire, an ...

) * Grand Cross with Crown in Gold of the House Order of the Wendish Crown ( Mecklenburg) * Grand Cross of the House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, ''8 April 1873'' ( Oldenburg) * Grand Cross of the Order of the White Falcon, ''1889'' ( Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) * Grand Cross of the Albert Order, ''1883'' (

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

) * Honour Cross 1st Class ( Schwarzburg) * Member 1st Class of the Order of Merit ( Waldeck-Pyrmont) * Grand Cross of the Friedrich Order, ''1873'' (

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

)

Foreign honours

* Knight 3rd Class of the Imperial Order of the Iron Crown, ''1861'' (

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

) * Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph, ''1872'' (

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) * Grand Cross of the Austrian Imperial Order of Leopold, ''1891'' (Austria-Hungary) * Commander of the Order of Leopold (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) * Commander of the Imperial Order of the Rose (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

, ''2 November 1874'' (

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) * Grand Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) * Commander of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

(

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) * Grand Cordon of the Order of Meiji (

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown (

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

(

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) * Member 1st Class of the Order of Osmanieh (

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

) * Grand Cross of the Royal Military Order of Our Lord Jesus Christ (

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania (

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) * Knight 1st Class of the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus (

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

) * Grand Cross of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Siam ( Siam) * Commander 2nd Class of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) * Commander 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav, ''6 February 1869'' ( Sweden-Norway) * Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the North Star, ''14 January 1875'' (Sweden-Norway)

Works

*''Geschichte der Preussischen Post von ihrem Ursprunge bis auf die Gegenwart: nach amtl. Quellen''. Berlin 1859. Reprint 1987, .

Notes

References

* Beyrer, Klaus and Behringer, Wolfgang (1997) ''Kommunikation im Kaiserreich: der Generalpostmeister Heinrich von Stephan'' (''Communication in the German Empire: the Postmaster General Heinrich von Stephan'') Museum für Post und Kommunikation, Braus, Heidelberg, , in German * Eckhardt, Carl Conrad (1941) ''Heinrich von Stephan, Founder of the Universal Postal Union'' University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado,

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephan, Heinrich Von 1831 births 1897 deaths People from Słupsk People from the German Empire People from the Province of Pomerania German postmasters Universal Postal Union people Members of the Prussian House of Lords Postal pioneers Burials at Dreifaltigkeitsfriedhof I, Berlin Recipients of the Iron Cross (1870), 2nd class Grand Crosses of the Order of Franz Joseph Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Commanders of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania)