Status: 01/04/2023 1:31 p.m
In the end, the telegram had primarily nostalgic value; some companies still used it to congratulate on company anniversaries. On the last day of the telegram, thousands sent another greeting.
Before Deutsche Post stopped the telegram service, thousands of people took the opportunity to send one last telegram greeting at the turn of the year. On December 31 – the last day before the offer was discontinued – 3,228 telegrams were sent in the Federal Republic, Deutsche Post reported. For comparison: in previous years, between 200 and 300 telegrams were sent per month.
“Arrive Saturday 8 p.m. Grandma”
Invented in the 19th century, the telegram was one of the fastest ways to transmit important information well into the 20th century. Text dictated in person or by telephone at the post or telegraph office was usually sent by telex to a post or telegraph office near the addressee and then delivered by courier.
Since the usually quite high price of a telegram was based on the number of words, a separate language style developed with short forms instead of whole sentences. A typical formulation was something like: “Arrive Saturday 8 p.m. Grandma”. With the spread of the telephone and even more so with the advent of the internet and smartphones, the telegram became less important.
No more telegrams abroad since 2018
Recently, it has hardly been used by private customers, emphasized the Post. Companies would sometimes still use it for reminders or as a token of appreciation for long-standing employees on company anniversaries, but even that had become less and less common. In 2018, Swiss Post had already stopped sending telegrams abroad. At the turn of the year, it discontinued the service completely, following the example of many other postal companies around the world.
A mini telegram with up to 160 characters recently cost at least 12.57 euros, a maxi telegram with up to 480 characters 17.89 euros – in the simple version. With a decorative leaf, 21.98 euros were due.