200 Years Later

There are very few traces left of the optical telegraph: the remains of foundations here, a telescope there. Two hundred years after its inception, the optical telegraph is a virtually forgotten product of technology. Most of the few remaining examples are now to be found in the Post & Tele Museum.

Nyborg telegraph station today. Photo: Birgitte Wistoft. 1999.

The station is situated at 1 Telegrafvej. Until a few years ago, it served as a navigation mark. In the 1850s, when the optical telegraph had almost outlived its usefulness, it had become very dilapidated. A telegraph manager describes how "the walls are covered with mould and other vegetative growths. The whole dwelling is deficient in the kind of comforts expected in a normal apartment".