Otto Lilienthal

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the space sojourn of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957, the GDR issued a special postmark "25 years of the cosmic era" on August 10, 1982. Also honoured in the postmark was Otto Lilienthal, aviation pioneer, with the words "Otto v. Lilienthal (1848-1896)". However, Lilienthal was not of noble descent and therefore no “von”, symbolised with the “v.”. Due to the error, the special postmark was withdrawn.

Otto Lilienthal Sputnik 1

 

Postcard with withdrawn special postmark