At the pigeon post office letter pigeons carry written reports. This kind of the was already in the antique one far common. In the modern times she found first only for military purposes use. In 19. Century were furnished however ever to more letter pigeon lines for civilian purposes. It came at some places even to the expenditure of own pigeon post office stamps. After the Second World War the pigeon post office was displaced nearly completely by modern telecommunications means.

In the art the motive of the pigeon post office became above all at present their largest spreading in 19. Century taken up, on stamps forms it today still another popular motive. The pigeon post office applies however under Philatelisten only as a small peripheral area. Only few letters and pieces of voucher of the pigeon post office remained preserved.

Historical development

Pigeon post office in the antiquity

The pigeon post office is the oldest form of the flight post office. Already in the antiquity humans recognized the special ability of pigeons to return easy from largest distance to their NIST places. This permits to look the pigeons in a very large area for suitable food. Already in the old person will is reported by Noahs pigeon, which was able to return independently to its ark. Around 5000 v. Chr. tried humans for the first time to use this ability for its own purposes and began with the Domestikation the pigeon. By most diverse breed methods it became finally possible to use these animals as deliverers of messages. A first description of the pigeon breed supplied the Greek natural scientist and philosopher Aristoteles. Biologists assume that the letter pigeon originally descends from the rock pigeon (Columba livia).

The first larger attempts to the Domestikation of the pigeon undertook the Sumerer. Sargon of Akkad let equip all its messengers in Mesopotamien with letter pigeons, which should be released in case of an attack. This ensured that the ruler was informed fast by an incident. For message delivery the pigeon post office first particularly in the old person Egypt one used. As particularly fast kind you were attached to the delivery of messages ever more military, political and also economic attention; Letter pigeons spread for example the customer of the coronation/culmination of the Pharaos Ramses IITH in the year 1279 v. Chr. The the Egyptian develop even particularly light paper, in order can let so as much as possible information carry by pigeon. The letter pigeons were used soon also in other advanced cultures. First the letter pigeon arrived into the antique Greece. For the geographical condition of the country the letter pigeon showed itself as ideal means of transport, since many important air routes lay within the range of the pigeons. Athletes, which traveled to the olympic plays, carried for example their own letter pigeons forward. In case of a victory the athletes bound a part of the goal volume to the foot of the pigeons, which flew the victory of their fellow citizen afterwards back to the homeland of the sportsman and signaled so to the inhabitants. The Roman writer Ovid reported in his metamorphosis that Greek Taurosthenes in this way brought the message of his victory to his father and his homeland village on the island Aegina with the olympic plays.

In antique Rome the letter pigeon had above all military meaning. The Roman field gentleman Julius let messages of unrests in the conquered Gallien bring by own messenger pigeons, in order to know so its troops fast befehligen. The Roman senator and writer Plinius the older one reported for the first time in detail in its scientific work Naturalis historia over the military use of letter pigeons. It later described, like Brutus during the FE storage of Modena in the year 44 v. Chr. by Marks Anton owing to the pigeon post office further with its allied ones like Aulus Hirtius to communicate and thus the city four months long to defend could. The messages were bound already at that time around the feet of the letter pigeons. Particularly in 4. Century was developed the pigeon post office in the Roman realm strongly, occasional was up to 5000 letter pigeons in government property.

Also in China and India the letter pigeon was used already early for the transmission of news. China developed a whole postal service on the basis of the pigeon post office.

Pigeon post office in the Middle Ages

After the decay of the westRoman realm the letter pigeons made of Europe had disappeared again to a large extent. They became by the Kreuzritter only in 12. and 13. Century again to Europe brought. In the front Orient the letter pigeon was still common for transmission of news far, it also during the crusades was often used. With the attempt to take the city Akkon it succeeded to the Kreuzrittern in the year 1191 to intercept one by letter pigeon conveyed message: In it Sultan Saladin assured to the inhabitants to arrive in three days with its army in the city in order to support it in the fight against the Kreuzritter. The Kreuzritter falsified however the message and released the intercepted letter pigeon again. The falsified message left the inhabitants of Akkon now in the faith to have to completely fight without the support Saladins. Still before expiration of the three days the city was in the hand of the Kreuzritter, since the inhabitants of Akkon carried out hardly more Gegenwehr. The pigeon post office in the front Orient was not by any means limited to military use; national pigeon postal services and regularly beflogene pigeon post office lines developed. Saladin had its own pigeon post office, which interconnected among other things its capitals Cairo and Damascus. In addition it let a chain of fortresses build, the messages by means of Heliograph, beacon and pigeons continued to lead (an example is the fortress Ajlun in the today's northJordanian in close proximity to Irbid). In this way important messages between the two cities could be passed on within twelve hours. In 12. Century established also only ad-DIN, Kalif of Bagdad, its own letter pigeon post office. Also Dschingis Khan used letter pigeons for the delivery of messages in the realm of the Mongols.

Into Europe the pigeon post office was used particularly in campaigns. Here it was still an important means of transport of messages in the war, which had to replace only with difficulty. Particularly in the eighty-year old war it came to the frequent employment of the pigeon post office. William of Oranien used letter pigeons for example in the year 1573 during the Spanish FE storage of Haarlem by Frederik of Toledo as well as during the FE storage of suffering in the year 1574. Outside of military affairs pigeons were used only occasionally by rulers and government agencies, sometimes also as means of communication between [castles and monasteries.

Letter pigeons in the intelligence

To receive by the increasing industrialization it for the economy ever more importantly, on quick possible way message. At the beginning 19. Century fell back several businessmen particularly in London and Antwerp to letter pigeons. Some banking houses maintained even own course pigeons at this time. Also business magazines, like the Antwerpener trade paper, furnished their own letter pigeon service. The increased use from letter pigeons to economic purposes was however from small duration. The birds became soon by the first Telegrafenlinien in the center 19. Century replaces.

To the most famous businessmen, who supported their news service by letter pigeons, the family Rothschild belonged. Nathan Mayer Rothschild still knew the exit of the battle owing to its letter pigeons before the English prime minister with Waterloo in the year 1815. It sold its shares and the investors believed, it was in the possession of information about a British defeat, why they followed it when selling the shares. After the courses of the securities had sunk into the cellar, it bought them secretly and could by the improvement in prices, when the message of the victory of the British for all arrived, high profits register.

Beside individual businessmen also some intelligence services used letter pigeons. In the year 1850 Paul Julius Reuter created Institut for the transport of telegraphic telegrams in Aachen. With 40 letter pigeons it created a message air lift, in order to close the gap in the Telegrafenverbindung between Brussels and Aachen. Stock exchange messages, which were collected by Reuters agents in different cities of Europe and delivered in Brussels, were predominant. With the important freight in the plumage the pigeons flew back faster than the railway to Aachen. Reuters coworkers took the messages on the roof of the house in the Pontstrasse 117 in receipt and passed them on to the principal markets. One year later all important connections were closed already in the Telegrafennetz and Reuter gave up the Aachener office. There he emigrated to London and created in October 1851 the press agency Reuters.

Articles in category "Pigeon post office"

We found here 50 articles.