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Heinrich Köhler Award

Heinrich Köhler Preis

Articles of Association of the Heinrich Köhler Award

Heinrich Köhler, the founder of the oldest stamp auction house in Germany that exists today, contributed significantly to the development of the organised nature of expertising. The positioning system for expertising marks that he devised has lasted for seven decades. Right up to the present day the expertising of stamps in Germany is done according to the Heinrich Köhler method.

In 1932, Heinrich Köhler was the second German, after Dr Herbert Munk, to be given the honour of signing the “Roll of Distinguished Philatelists” of the British Philatelic Federation as one of the champions of international philately.

To perpetuate the memory of Heinrich Köhler, the Heinrich Köhler company of Wiesbaden (proprietor Volker Parthen), in agreement with the Board of Directors of the “Bund der Philatelistischen Prüfer e.V.” (Federation of Philatelic Expertisers – BPP) donates the

“Köhler-Award for outstanding services to expertising”.

The ceremony is performed by the Board of Trustees of the Köhler Award on the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the BPP.

The Board of Trustees shall be composed of the following:

The proprietor or the managing director of the Heinrich Köhler company or his successor
Dr Hans-Karl Penning, as successor to the initiator of the award, Wilhelm van Loo
The President of the BPP
The Honorary Member Wilhelm van Loo
The most recent award winner

The second person mentioned chooses his/her successor personally. If a successor is not or cannot be chosen, the other members of the Board of Trustees will unanimously choose a successor.

The second person mentioned manages the affairs of the Board of Trustees. Should more than one person be eligible under point 5, the youngest award holder will be a member of the Board of Trustees.

The award takes the form of an 80g gold-plated, .999 fine silver medal, with a certificate. The award is given to persons or bodies that have given exceptionally meritorious services to expertising. Well-founded proposals maybe submitted at the end of each year by qualified persons.

The Board is not bound by these proposals and decides by a simple majority. The Board of Trustees may vote in a simple manner, such as in writing or by telephone, and it is to be done by 31 March.

An amendment of these Articles of Association requires the consent of all the members under 1, 2 and 4. In the event of the termination of the award ceremony, the Board of Trustees determines the use of existing resources.

Aachen, 13 December 2010

Award winners since the inception of the award

09.06.1996Eduard Peschl† 19.01.1999
09.06.1996Paul Hartung† 24.02.1997
09.06.1996Dr. Arno Debo† 17.03.2000
09.06.1996Hans-Georg Schlegel† 15.08.2012
09.06.1996Dr. Ulrich Ferchenbauer
09.06.1996Peter Sem
31.05.1997Dr. med. Friedrich F. Steuer† 24.08.1997
13.06.1998Gotwin Zenker
† 06.06.2007
13.06.1998Fritz Gaedicke† 21.07.2007
13.06.1998Maria Brettl
05.06.1999Günter Bechtold†22.11.2020
24.06.2000Volker Parthen† 12.02.2000
24.06.2000Zbigniev S. Mikulski† 28.12.2017
16.06.2001Konsul Hermann W. Sieger† 30.09.2019
11.05.2002Paolo Vollmeier† 30.11.2017
24.05.2003Fritz Heimbüchler
01.05.2004Dr. Albert Louis† 06.05.2013
30.04.2005James van der Linden
29.04.2006Harry von Hofmann
21.04.2007Kurt Kimmel
21.04.2007Wilhelm van Loo
25.04.2008Wolfgang Maaßen
29.05.2010Wolfgang Jakubek
21.05.2011Dr. Hans-Karl Penning
05.05.2012cav. lav. Alberto Bolaffi
20.04.2013Florian Berger
19.04.2015Peter Fischer† 04.06.2022
29.04.2017Wolfgang Straub
30.04.2022Michael Jäschke-Lantelme
29.04.2023Tobias Huylmans

Year of inception 1996
Founder: Volker Parthen 
Initiator: Wilhelm van Loo