"In 1908, the postal route between Osterwieck (Saxony-Anhalt) and the town of Hornburg in Lower Saxony was travelled by mail coach for the very last time. Mail coaches were then replaced by motorised vehicles.
In 1990, the West German postal service celebrated the '500th Anniversary of Mail in Germany' in a big way. In contrast, the East German postal service staged only small celebrations. In May 1990, the head staff at the office in Halberstadt organised, on its own initiative, a meeting between our Prussian mail coach and the Braunschweig mail coach in Homburg. For many years, Osterwieck had been the last town on the inner-German border before the no-man’s-land; and Homburg, the first town on the other side of the border. On 25 May 1990, the coach crossed the border, which still existed at the time. Everyone on board was checked by East German border guards. The postal workers also spontaneously organised a meeting between the GDR and FRG border guards on the Western side. Special-issue stamps were then handed out.
Afterwards, the Prussian mail coach set off amidst great jubilation for Hornburg, where the first special-issue East German stamps were then sold.
The Prussian mail coach is now on display at the Museum for Communication in Berlin."
Burkhard C. Schaller (Halberstadt)
(1 ranking) 
