The postal service Telegraph

The vast majority of the messages sent across the Great Belt concerned the postal services: what time the mail boat departed from one harbour and was expected at the next one; items left behind at the post office; in short, a back-up service for the post. The telegraphs were especially useful in winter when it could be difficult and risky to venture out in the iceboats.

Sprogø drawn from memory by Eduard Storch. Painting. 1843. Post & Tele Museum.

The optical telegraph can be seen in the background. In the foreground is the mail boat, Mercurius, which was used on the stretch between Korsør and Nyborg in 1828. The steamer carried mail and passengers and was a great success for the Postal Services right from the start.