wnp@relay.eu.net (wolf paul) (06/04/90)
In TELECOM Digest V10 #397, J. Stephen Reed <0002909785@mcimail.com> writes: > West German postal codes are normally four digits, ranging from 1000 > (West Berlin) to 7999. I would not put too much credence to the exact wording of the article you are quoting. All of Bavaria has postal codes starting with 8, with Munich being 8000. Bavaria IS part of West Germany. > according to a DBP bulletin some years ago, the 8000s and 9000s are reserved > for "other German regions" ... primarily ... ("the so-called 'GDR'"). > (Digression: Note the word "primarily" in the last paragraph. It > seems obvious that not all Federal Republic bureaucrats have given up > on getting back the territories now held by Poland ... As for it being obvious what some German bureaucrats think about the German/Polish border, the source document cited in the article seems to date back several decades, when the German postal code system was set up, and not reflect anyone's thinking today. Mr. Reed even quotes the magazine article referring to a DBP bulletin 'SOME YEARS AGO", and if it uses the phrase, "so-called GDR", which has been out of official use for some time, it would, as he himself pointed out, date back to the 50s or 60s. It has already been reported here that the DBP Telecom has area codes (not codes for exchanges) set aside for the territory of the DDR. Disclaimer: I am not German, and have no special interest in German unification -- but neither in international fear mongering, which seems very common in the context of potential German re-unification. Anyone wanting my views on this subject in more detail is welcome to ask by e-mail. Wolf N. Paul, Int. Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Schloss Laxenburg, Schlossplatz 1, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa.at!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa.at@uunet.uu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET