The Federal Ministry of Post and Telecommunications () was established in 1949 under the name Federal Ministry of Telecommunications Affairs ( and renamed the Federal Ministry of Post and Telecommunications on April 1, 1950. It was subsequently mostly referred to as the Federal Postal Ministry; within the postal service, the abbreviation BPM was generally used. The ministry was headquartered in the building of the Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in Bonn from 1954 to 1988, before moving to a new building. In 1989, as part of the first stage of postal reform, the world Telecommunications in the ministry's name was changed from Fernmeldewesen to the more internationally-derived word Telekommunikation.
As a result of the privatization of posts and telecommunications, it was dissolved on December 31, 1997.BGBl. I vom 20. Januar 1998, S. 68. During its existence, the ministry was the highest authority within the German Federal Post Office. The postal directorates and other central intermediate authorities such as Central Postal Services Office, Central Telecommunications Services Office, Social Welfare Office of the German Federal Post Office were directly subordinate to it.
The Federal Ministry of Post and Telecommunications performed tasks in the field of postal and telecommunications services. It consisted of Policy, Strategy and Targets, Competition Control, Regulation, Licensing, Authorizations, Radio Frequency Matters, Standardization and Central Department.
The Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications's area of responsibility included the following subordinate federal authorities:
Deutsche Bundespost, headquartered in Bonn; Federal Office for Approvals in Telecommunications (BZT) in headquartered Saarbrücken; (BAPT), headquartered in Mainz.
With its dissolution on December 31, 1997, its responsibilities were divided between various agencies: the Federal Ministry of Finance took over the responsibility for issuing postage stamps, exercising voting rights attached to shares, and filling supervisory board mandates in public limited companies and managing the Federal Printing Office. and the Federal Ministry of Economics was responsible for representing German interests in the European Union, international frequency matters with effect from January 1, 1998. Responsibilities relating to the personnel of the former German Federal Post Office were transferred to the Federal Office for Posts and Telecommunications, including, in particular, the related institutions of the former German Federal Post Office such as the Postal Officials' Health Insurance Fund, the Recreation Fund of the German Federal Post Office, or the Postal Clothing Fund and the Accident Insurance Fund for Posts and Telecommunications. The non-sovereign part of the former Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Federal Office for Posts and Telecommunications were merged to form the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts, which continues its responsibilities today as the Federal Network Agency responsible for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railways.
Ministers No. Image Name Party Term start Term end Cabinet Federal Minister for Telecommunications Affairs 1 Hans Schuberth CSU 20 September 1949 1 April 1950 Adenauer I Federal Minister of Posts and Telecommunications 1 Hans Schuberth CSU 1 April 1950 9 December 1953 Adenauer IAdenauer II 2 Siegfried Balke CSU (from 1954) 10 December 1953 16 October 1956 Adenauer II 3 Ernst Lemmer CDU 15 November 1956 29 October 1957 Adenauer II 4 Richard Stücklen CSU 29 October 1957 30 November 1966 Adenauer IIIAdenauer IVAdenauer VErhard IErhard II 5 Werner Dollinger CSU 1 December 1966 21 October 1969 Kiesinger 6 Georg Leber SPD 22 October 1969 7 July 1972 Brandt I 7 Lauritz Lauritzen SPD 7 July 1972 15 December 1972 Brandt I 8 Horst Ehmke SPD 15 December 1972 16 May 1974 Brandt II 9 Kurt Gscheidle SPD 16 May 1974 28 April 1982 Schmidt ISchmidt IISchmidt III 10 Hans Matthöfer SPD 28 April 1982 1 October 1982 Schmidt III 11 Christian Schwarz-Schilling CDU 4 October 1982 30 June 1989 Kohl IKohl IIKohl III 11 Christian Schwarz-Schilling CDU 1 July 1989 17 December 1992 Kohl IIIKohl IV − Günther Krause(kommissarisch) CDU 17 December 1992 25 January 1993 Kohl IV 12 Wolfgang Bötsch CSU 25 January 1993 31 December 1997 Kohl IVKohl V
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