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For the first time, the history of the German Postal Service of the GDR is comprehensively documented. Hartmut Trier, a recognized expert on East and West German postal systems, tells this story—not one of officials, lawyers, and administrative managers, but of engineers and employees who operated from 29 main post offices, over 2,000 post offices, and more than 9,500 postal facilities, facing the challenges of the socialist planned economy. How was it possible to ensure stable mail delivery despite minimal state funding for the maintenance of buildings and machinery, as well as for the vehicle fleet? How did the technology embargo and restrictions from the CoCom list affect technological progress in the postal sector? The postal expert reports on curious investment measures, such as the purchase of a local exchange for Erfurt from Siemens, where the accompanying computer technology for controlling the system was absent. He also reflects on the important institutions of the German Postal Service, which included not only an engineering school and specialized degree programs at the "Friedrich List" University of Transport in Dresden but also cultural institutions, holiday resorts, polyclinics, and a children's recovery home in the Harz mountains. "A postal family developed," the author notes, presenting a lively, informative, and richly illustrated standard work on German postal history, centered on the people who kept the postal service of the GDR running.