(pcp-wm) On September 30, 2019, the renowned philatelist and philatelic patron Consul Hermann Walter Sieger from Lorch was relieved of his many years of suffering. Sieger, born on 6 April 1928 in Schwäbisch-Gmünd,
He had been known worldwide for over seven decades with the stamp house Hermann E. Sieger. Originally for “Zeppelin mail”, in earlier decades for thematic subscription collections and worldwide novelties. His father Hermann Ernst Sieger († 1954) had already founded the company in 1922, in the same year he founded the Sieger Literature Prize, which has been awarded annually. The promotion of philately, especially association philately, as well as philatelic literature was always a concern for both of them. In 1978, the company employed 230 collaborators and served more than 120,000 subscribers, supplying them with novelties from all over the world and motif stamps. At the time, the company was the largest European philatelic retailer.
Konsul Sieger was involved in numerous national and international associations. He was vice president of the professional association of the German stamp trade APHV (1995-2001), in the same function also with the world association of album publishers ASCAT (1988-2000), honorary member of the international association of professional philately IFSDA, but also honorary member in over 30 associations of the BDPh (association of German philatelists). He regularly supported clubs and the BDPh with generous donations, which were handed over until more recently at the then still annual German Philatelists’ Day.
Sieger was a renowned connoisseur and expert of philately, who maintained important collections of various themes. He was a founding member of the German Association of Philatelic Experts BPP 1958, as well as co-founder of the International Association of Philatelic Examiners AIEP 1954 and the World Association of Philatelic Authors and Journalists AIJP. Since 1955 he was an expert for air mail and remained so until 2004. Eugen Berlin and Schwaneberger Verlag owed him the first MICHEL catalogues, which were published again in West Germany after the Second World War in 1950/51.
Konsul Sieger was also socially and charitably involved outside of philately and supported numerous associations, institutions and hospitals as well as cultural institutions with generous donations. The Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande (Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon) in 1988 and the State of Baden-Württemberg the Stauffer Medal for Special Merits in 2003. The number of honours awarded by philatelic societies and associations is hardly manageable. The BDPh awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1977 and the Great Gold Medal in 2008.
Philately will miss him!
Photographer: Wilhelm van Loo
