Information: This is an old - not maintained - article of the AEIOU. In the Austria-Forum you find an updated version of this article in the new AEIOU.
Day of the Stamp, 1986
The fate of the once so famous "cursus publicus" was sealed with the decline of the Roman Empire. This Roman system of regulated delivery of mail, goods, and passengers found no successor in the ensuing centuries. Only in the Middle Ages did a system of postal delivery once again appear. Messengers were crucial to the origin of postal delivery. These emerged in response to a lack of appropriate national institutions capable of meeting the demands of various societal groups. There was, for example, a well-organized messenger system within the Catholic church. Additional steps on the way to regulated postal delivery were the messengers of the Teutonic Order, commercial couriers, and public and royal couriers. Many special-interest groups engaged their own messengers. National organizations formed only later. The postal service is undoubtedly a country's most important sector, which today must meet new challenges in light of advancements in the field of telecommunications. This commemorative stamp shows the "Messenger of Nürnberg", taken from a wood carving from the second half of the 16th century. He is wearing a small messenger's badge and is carrying the usual messenger's rod. Apart from this, in a manner plain to see, he is carrying a letter.
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