Stagecoach

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stagecoaches in Denmark around 1850
Coupé-Landauer stagecoach, Vienna 1894, Technical Museum Vienna

Stagecoaches and messenger car were from horses drawn wagons, increasingly carriages , which until the early 20th century by the Post for the transport of mail and simultaneously paying passengers used. Strictly speaking, the term mail coach only applies to the relatively comfortable vehicles that were put into operation in the 19th century. Before that, the mail wagons were often unsprung, sometimes even without a roof ( Poststellwagen ).

Ancient and modern times

Postal courses 1563, travel manual by Giovanni dal'Herba
Courier car in the 17th century

Traveling wagons were already used in the Cursus publicus , the postal service of ancient Rome . Like the whole postal system of that time, they were only available for government purposes, i.e. for business trips. The old Roman carriages, Carrucae , already had a closed passenger cabin and simple suspension .

After a few centuries when there were only the simplest wagons (in Europe), horse-drawn wagons with suspension were built again from the 14th century. When they went over to the curved plane of Kobel car by elegant shapes of the roof to replace nationalized the term for these modern vehicles in the 16th century coach one.

The reintroduction of postal services in the early modern era began with messengers on horseback. Since the 17th century there was a move to supplement or replace the messenger mail with a driving post that could also transport people and larger items of mail. In England, for example, the first stagecoach line between London and Chester was opened in 1657 . In contrast to England and France, in the German-speaking countries, due to the territorial fragmentation in the Holy Roman Empire, there was no uniform transport system, but a complicated network of the Imperial Post Office operated by the General Postmasters from Thurn and Taxis and the posts of individual Imperial Estates or since 1805 Territorial states. This also left gaps in the connections.

Development of the mail car

Formerly a Saxon postal wagon , still unsprung, not a real carriage

Not only in Germany were the first mail wagons not actually carriages , they were unsprung ladder wagons with a wickerwork that was later covered with a tarpaulin. Nonetheless, even then they were generously referred to as “coaches” if they had at least one roof. You sat in it on wooden benches with fur blankets.

From the 18th century the importance of the stagecoach for passenger traffic increased. In the course of time, coach types trained for special postal tasks and regional conditions developed. Initially, the Berline type was used for four to six passengers and the Mail Coach, introduced from England via France, for 13 to 15 passengers (of which only four to six inside seats).

Ordinari-Post and Extrapost

Post and travel map of the routes through France around 1703
The postal rates in Germany around the year 1711

The roads, some not paved at all, some with bumpy cobblestones, only allowed slow driving speeds. In the invention of derogatory names for carriages and paths, the people of the 18th century were extremely creative because of the uncomfortable way of getting around: Fulling mill, torture box, field cart, bone cracker, Teufelsweg, Höllenpfad are only the more moderate ones.

In order not to let the transport and travel times get out of hand, there were organizational precautions. The horses were changed in the post offices that ultimately gave the post its name ( posta / “post” in the sense of a supply station). While Ordinari Post travelers also stayed overnight in the post stations, the Extrapost vehicles drove day and night. The French doctor Charles Patin wrote in 1676 that uninterrupted driving, both day and night, only allows you to rest when you change horses . The travel arrangements with the post office were an expression of the measures to promote the absolutist unitary state. Members of different classes were promoted together.

Some high-ranking travelers therefore afforded to travel both with hired horses and their own coach, as well as with complete rental wagons. Some aristocrats, impoverished and unable to afford this luxury, traveled incognito in stagecoaches.

However, the passengers of a stagecoach were not treated in the same way either, many carriages had, in addition to the seats in the coach box (passenger cabin), also outside seats on the trunk and on the roof, which lacked any weather protection. When the number of passengers was high, sidecars were used, additional teams that drove behind the coach on the same schedule, often cars of less comfort.

Flowering and decline

Oberbergische stagecoach
Gotthard stagecoach (type Berline with coupé), 1849 to 1881
Stagecoach for mail, without passenger transport
Travel ticket (ticket) for the Nagold express car to Stuttgart February 22, 1851

The services of the Fahrpost experienced a significant improvement through the expansion of the country roads in the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1820, the important overland postal routes were so well developed that the carriages operating there could keep up with the speed of individual riders. The cruising speed of the stagecoach was the road of about 2 km / h in 1700 and 5.5 to 7.5 km / hour in the 18th century to about 10 km / hour in 1850 increased. Back then, a carriage could cover more than 100 kilometers in one day.

With the expansion of the railroad (connected Central European network since 1849), the often romanticized age of the stagecoach gradually came to an end. At the end of the 19th century, large stagecoaches with two carriage boxes were introduced that could carry 9 to 15 passengers. The railway was cheaper and faster, both in terms of passenger transport and in terms of operating the railway mail . Towards the end of the stagecoach era, horse-drawn buses were sometimes used, a type of wagon actually designed for city traffic. There was still the transport between the train station and the post office , for which carriages without passenger seats were also used. Stagecoaches were for passenger transport in not train developed rural areas of importance to there in 1900, the engine started and in 1905 the force post with their vehicles took over the ancestral work of stagecoaches. The last stagecoach line was also discontinued in England in 1905. The lack of petrol in the First World War meant that many bus routes in Germany were temporarily closed until the end of the war and replaced by stagecoaches. After the end of the war, it quickly came to an end.

Equipment used by travelers in the 18th century

The basic equipment of an 18th century traveler should be considered: raincoat, wide hat, at least two pairs of shoes or boots, trousers, nightgown and bedding. The documents and money were kept in a leather belt. The most important things were kept in clothing. Until the 19th century, travelers tended to wear well-worn clothing, as these were very stressed by the journey. During the often monotonous carriage ride, the educated traveler passed the time with appropriate reading. In the 18th century, people liked to discuss what they had read or to tell stories. Those who wanted to report on their trip carried a wax tablet with them and transcribed the text on paper at the inn.

nostalgia

Replica of a royal Saxon stagecoach (type Mail Coach) with a milestone from the 19th century, Tharandt Forest

For a long time there have been no official stagecoaches in German-speaking countries outside of traditional events. However, in 1938 and 1939, the Deutsche Reichspost had new Berline post coaches with Copé built for use in 25 German health resorts, as well as some postal sledges at the Aug. Nowack AG bodywork in Bautzen . The last stagecoach in the tourist postal service, which was reintroduced by the Deutsche Reichspost in 1938 and interrupted in World War II, still operates on the Bad Kissingen – Bad Bocklet stagecoach route . Occasionally, stagecoaches can also be found at tourism fairs and philatelic days. Some organizers offer longer trips in historic stagecoaches, such as Goethe's Italian Journey , Munich – Verona or the route of the Lindauer Boten . In the official timetable of Switzerland from 2005, a carriage line between Pontresina and Roseggletscher was mentioned. In East Germany there are now again tourist stagecoach offers on the long haul Hamburg – Berlin , Berlin –Leipzig and Leipzig –Dresden with original stagecoaches as well as the project Land der historical Poststraßen with regular trips of three stagecoaches and a postal sledge in the region East Ore Mountains - Saxon Switzerland - Tharandt Forest south of Dresden .

Data from the history of the stagecoach

Speeds and possible daily routes around 1800
  • 1610: The first English stagecoach goes into operation.
  • 1623: The first Fahrpost between Düsseldorf and Wesel as a private company of the Maurenbrecher is set up, from 1668 it travels from Düsseldorf to Cologne with the privilege of the Palatinate .
  • 1660: The first Fahrpost between Leipzig and Hamburg goes into operation.
  • 1664: France introduces a state coach service.
  • 1682: The first mail from Stuttgart via Heilbronn to Heidelberg runs once a week.
  • 1683: The first mail between Dresden and Leipzig runs twice a week.
  • 1684: The first mail travels between Leipzig and Nuremberg .
  • 1692: The first mail between Cologne and Venlo runs twice a week.
  • 1694: The first mail between Leipzig and Breslau runs twice a week.
  • 1703: The first Fahrpost between Cologne and Frankfurt am Main is set up.
  • 1750: Stagecoaches have established themselves as the most important means of transport in overland traffic.
  • 1815: The ball post between Copenhagen and Hamburg is introduced.
  • 1820: Traveling by carriages becomes faster than riding a horse.
  • 1842: First stagecoach across the Gotthard .
  • 1852: William Fargo and Henry Wells found the Wells Fargo Company in California , whose stagecoaches are part of the historic streetscape of the Wild West .
  • 1871: At that time, the Oberbergische stagecoach ran between Wiehl and Nümbrecht for the first time
  • 1881: The last trip of the stagecoach over the Gotthard takes place.
  • 1888: Selby sets the speed record for stagecoaches to 23 km / h.
  • 1904: Between Braunschweig and Wendeburg , a bus replaces the stagecoach for the first time in Germany .
  • 1905: The Bavarian Post opens its first full- service mail line.
  • 1905: The last English stagecoach ceases operations.
  • 1921: On May 3rd, the stagecoach between Meschede and Lippstadt is replaced by a bus.
  • 1923: On September 29th the last stagecoach runs in Hanover .
  • 1926: The last horse mail runs in Saxony, the stagecoach of which can still be seen in Pfaffroda Castle .
  • 1930: The last stagecoach travels from Windsheim to Ansbach in Middle Franconia .
  • 1931: On May 1, 1931, the Görlitz horse posts are discontinued and replaced by electric cars .
  • 1935: On April 14, 1935, the last stagecoach from Heigenbrücken to Wiesen left Lower Franconia as the last non-tourist trip for passenger transport in Germany.
  • 1938: The horse personnel posts are reintroduced for tourists in 25 German health resorts by the Deutsche Reichspost . From 1940 they are discontinued due to the war. Only the Bad Kissingen – Bad Bocklet stagecoach line has remained under postal authority to this day.
  • 1939: The journeys with the Deutsche Reichspost's mail sledge are reintroduced for tourists in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland , but stopped during World War II .
  • 1957: In March, the last parcel post is delivered in Kiel (as one of the last German cities) by stagecoach.
  • 1961: The last horse mail on the Avers - Juf line in Switzerland is discontinued.
  • 1973: The Oberbergische stagecoach drives again between Nümbrecht and Wiehl .
  • 2005: An international stagecoach meeting takes place in Langenfeld.
  • 2006: The annual (southeast) German stagecoach meetings begin in Grillenburg and Bad Düben .
  • 2006: A stagecoach ride, which lasts six months, leads through six European countries and over 6000 km, takes place.
  • 2007: Post sledge rides are reintroduced in the Tharandt forest .
  • 2012: An international stagecoach meeting takes place in Brück im Fläming .
  • 2013: Helmut Deutschkämer organized a stagecoach ride from Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen across Germany to the Zugspitze near Garmisch-Partenkirchen .

Post coaches on German postage stamps

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Ammerer : Travel City Salzburg: Salzburg in travel literature from humanism to the beginning of the railway age. Archive u. Extra Office of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 2003, ISBN 3-901014-81-0 .
  • Gerd Beckmann: Trari, trara it sounded in the Schwarzatal - Horse Personnel Post Bad Blankenburg-Schwarzburg; Reopening of the horse mail in the Schwarzatal in the years 1938 and 1939. Reprint of the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Verein Thüringer Postgeschichte e. V. (Ed.), Bad Blankenburg, May 2003.
  • Klaus Beyrer (Ed.): Time of the stagecoaches. Three centuries of travel 1600–1900. A publication by the Deutsche Postmuseum. Frankfurt am Main on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, Braun, Karlsruhe 1992, ISBN 3-7650-9031-X .
  • Petra Krempien: History of Travel and Tourism. An overview from the beginning to the present. FBV Medien-Verlag, Limburgerhof 2000, ISBN 3-929469-25-1 .
  • Stefan Nunner (Munich): The re-establishment of horse personnel posts. Newsletter No. 83 of the research group Kursächsische Postmeilensäulen e. V. , December 2006.
  • Stefan Nunner, André Kaiser: Reintroduction of the tourist horse-drawn mail sleigh rides in Saxony. Circular letter No. 84 of the research group Kursächsische Postmeilensäulen e. V., November 2007.
  • Jens Hüttenberger: A little history of communication. Cologne 2009.
  • Hans Schulz: Farewell to Görlitzer Pferdeposten , Sächsische Zeitung Görlitz, April 30, 2011.
  • H. Gundel: A little chat about post horses - and their use in messenger, riding and driving services. (Continuation article ) In: Collector service. from No. 22, 1980, pp. 1610-1612 to No. 23, 1980, pp. 1721-1722.

Web links

Commons : Stagecoach  album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Klaus Beyrer: The travel letter "Kutsche". Enlightenment awareness in mail travel of the 18th century. In: Wolfgang Griep, Hans-Wolf Jäger (Hrsg.): Travel in the 18th century. Winter, Heidelberg 1986, p. 56.
  2. ↑ A replica is exhibited today in the Osterzgebirgsmuseum Schloss Lauenstein .
  3. ^ Petra Krempien: History of travel and tourism. An overview from the beginning to the present. FBV-Medien-Verlag, Limburgerhof 2000, p. 95.
  4. ↑ Life story of Baron Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, p. 213:… Our journey went day and night with extra mail. ...
  5. ↑ Regulations as to how it should be held with which extra items in the Marck, Hinter-Pommern and Herzogthum Crossen
  6. ↑ Klaus Beyrer: The travel writing "Kutsche". Enlightenment awareness in mail travel of the 18th century. In: Wolfgang Griep, Hans-Wolf Jäger (Hrsg.): Travel in the 18th century. Winter, Heidelberg 1986, p. 54.
  7. ↑ Klaus Beyrer: The travel writing "Kutsche". Enlightenment awareness in mail travel of the 18th century. In: Wolfgang Griep, Hans-Wolf Jäger (Hrsg.): Travel in the 18th century. Winter, Heidelberg 1986, p. 55.
  8. ^ Gerhard Ammerer: Travel City Salzburg. Salzburg in travel literature from humanism to the beginning of the railway age. Archive u. Extra Office of the City of Salzburg, Salzburg 2003, p. 15f.
  9. ↑ 1. Sächsischer Postkutschenverein e. V.
  10. ^ History of the post office in Heigenbrücken
  11. ↑ The last ride of the Kiel post horses ( memento from March 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ^ Stagecoach meeting
  13. ↑ European carriage
  14. ↑ Post sledge Grillenburg
  15. ↑ Titans of the Racetrack
  16. ↑ Postkutsche Dabel  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.postkutschnereisen.de