NELSON MANDELA COMMEMORATIVE STAMP.

On the initiative of Peter Krämer in 2017, the responsible Federal Ministry of Finance together with the Post Ministry of South Africa issued two commemorative stamps for the 100th birthday of Nelson Mandela in the summer of 2018. In a ceremony in the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, the special stamps of Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance Bettina Hagedorn and the South African Ambassador H. E. Phumelele Sizani Stone were presented to the public. The world famous South African Youth Orchestra MIAGI gave a brilliant concert on this occasion. Ambassador Sizani thanked the Peter Krämer Foundation and its Managing Director State Secretary a. D. Tilo Braune (who also wrote the text for the First Day Cover folder) for the idea and the instrumental help in implementing this particular project.

After John F. Kennedy on the occasion of his visit to Berlin in 1963, this is only the second special stamp for a foreign head of state in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In particular, State Secretary Werner Gatzer, who is responsible for the Federal Ministry of Finance, is one of the sponsors of the special stamps that underpin the close ties between South Africa and Germany. Even the then Federal Foreign Minister and today’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier support the project without reservation. The Peter Krämer Foundation would like to thank all sponsors of this wonderful, international and philatelic jewel.