Germany's defeat in World War II marked a watershed moment for the entire continent. In the wake of the vast devastation left by this war, Western nations were desperate for some sort of reconstruction plan. In addition to all of the other collateral damage associated with World War II, Europe's leaders had to deal with the fact that the postal services of practically every country on the continent had been smashed by the war.

The United States instituted a massive reconstruction plan for Europe, called the Marshall Plan. Germany, along with five other European nations, participated in this plan to rebuild Europe's infrastructure. For the first time, Germany released stamps together with its neighbor countries. The ''Europa'' stamp, which was issued in series of 13, came to symbolize the post-World War II European detente.

During the Cold War, East Germany and West Germany issued different, completely incompatible postal stamps. Indeed, in order for personal mailings to pass from West Berlin to East Berlin, they had to go through a ferocious battery of inspections. East Germany was extremely closed off to the West during this time. Today, proof sets of East German stamps fetch a lot of money at auctions.

Some German stamp collectors create ''parallel collections'' of East and West German stamps. The German postal infrastructure wasn't totally dismantled during reconstruction. So some post offices did ''double duty'' and serviced both East German and West German citizens. Commemorative stamps marking Germany's reunification are considered superior keepsakes, but most of these stamps have not yet matured to great value.