J.P.Tønder
Jens Peter Tønder (1773-1836) was a literary
telegraph manager at Sneglehøj on Møn, among other places. In
his memoirs, he writes, "Ten students in all, most of us graduates, were
entrusted with this important task along the sea coasts."
Coloured
engraving, The Royal Library.
It was not always such a glorious existence to be a literary telegraph manager.
Tønder lived in straitened circumstances and often had to support himself
by writing ballads and party songs. In Copenhagen he was regarded as an eccentric.
Engraving.
The Royal Library.
The murder of Jens Peter Tønder in 1836 was one of the most talked about
cases of that year. Tønder was strangled by an impoverished young student,
Worms, who went to him for French lessons. The motive was quite simple: Worms
wanted Tønder´s money.
