As of December 31, 2022: Deutsche Post will discontinue Telegram

Anyone who still wants to send a telegram must do so by December 31st. Because from January 1, 2023, the service will no longer be offered by Deutsche Post. The reason for this is that hardly any telegrams have been sent lately.

As of January 1st, Deutsche Post will no longer be able to send telegrams. This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for Deutsche Post when asked tagesschau.de.

Until December 31, 2022

The service can still be used until December 31 at 3 a.m. – online or by telephone. The company said it would ship the same day. After that it is no longer possible to submit an order for a telegram.

According to its own statements, Deutsche Post is one of the few postal companies in the world that still offers a Telegram product at all.

Was used too little

Deutsche Post cited a drop in demand as the reason for the decision to remove the telegram from the range. The spokeswoman was unable to quantify how many telegrams were last sent – they said there were no figures for this.

The comparatively high price of at least 12.57 euros for 160 characters in the basic version is higher than for other letter products due to the individuality, the effort involved in production and the logistical challenge of express delivery, the spokeswoman explained.

Telegrams are used almost exclusively by companies

According to Deutsche Post, almost only companies and administrations have recently sent telegrams in “significant amounts” – for example on company anniversaries or as invitations. But even with these customers, orders via the comparatively expensive news channel have become fewer and fewer.

The Deutsche Post said: “Either you rely on digital means of communication or individually designed letters, which attract a similar amount of attention when delivered as telegrams”.

Long considered the world’s fastest form of communication

This disappears about 170 years after the American EP Smith established the telegram in 1852, a type of communication that was long considered the fastest way in the world. At first, especially important political or military messages were transmitted in short lines – later also private ones, for example about weddings or births.

Characteristic of the telegram: an abbreviated language and the omission of personal pronouns and adjectives – after all, every word and every character cost money. Customers could choose decorative sheets – a kind of cover sheet with printed flowers, for example.