A Competitor in the Horizon

After the war, virtually all the optical telegraphs were dismantled. Only those along the Great Belt remained. The electric telegraph made its debut in 1854. The optical telegraphs stayed in place until 1862, however, serving as a back-up for the vulnerable cables that often broke.

The Great Belt cable is put ashore on Sprogø. Copy of oil painting by C. F. Sørensen. 1856. Post & Tele Museum.

Among those seated is Captain Lehmann, sending Denmark´s first "underwater" telegram to Knudshoved. Eight rowing boats ferried the cable to the landing place from Mindet, the schooner that served as a cable-laying ship.

Nyborg telegrafhus i dag. Foto: Birgitte Wistoft. 1999.

Huset ligger på Telegrafvej 1. Indtil for få år siden tjente det som sømærke. I 1850’erne, hvor den optiske telegraf var ved at have udtjent sin pligt, var det i stærkt forfald. En telegrafbestyrer beskriver, hvorledes ”Væggene er indvendig dækket af Muggenhed og andre vegetabilske Frembringelser. Hele Boligen er ufuldstændig forsynet med den slags Bekvemmeligheder, som hører til en almindelig Lejlighed”.