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Blowing of the Postal Horn
The development of towns in the Middle Ages along with the expansion of crafts and the importance of trade, the need for rapid links between towns became essential. The forming of courier services was undertaken by the town administration on one hand and by various corporations on the other. According to surviving documents, Strasbourg was, as far back as the twelfth century, obliged to place at the Bishop’s disposal a group of two dozen runners. A document from 1443 states that the Chief Scrivener of the town was in charge of three runners. They were issued special containers in which to carry letters. In 1484, Strasbourg employed three chief messengers and twenty-one assistant messengers.
The city messengers carried the mail of the citizens but not the letters of the Emperor or the knights. In Cologne, a special servant always informed the merchants and the general public of the day and hour that a messenger would leave for Brabant, or for central or southern Germany, to give them time to prepare the letters the messenger would carry on his way. Documents detailing messenger services of many towns are still in existence today.
The postal services of the towns developed mainly in the fourteenth century. In those times, well-functioning messenger services existed in Leipzig, Vienna and Prague. Prague also had a Jewish postal service. It was introduced on the basis of a request by the Council of the Jewish Quarter, Josefov. The head of the Jewish postal service was named; he had two Jewish assistants and a Christian assistant for Saturdays. In addition to the normal postal rates, he was entitled to charge an additional kreuzer for every letter. This was his salary and also that of his assistants. He did not receive any other payment. It is not known when this Jewish post was founded, but a document exists dated 1757 according to which, after the death of Breynel Taussig, the head of the service, this office was to be given to his widow. In the Jewish State Museum of Prague, a painting is exhibited showing the organization of the Prague Ghetto. It also shows a Jewish messenger from Prague on horseback. This figure appears on an Israeli stamp and miniature sheet of 1960.
Some of the Guilds organised their own postal services in the Middle Ages; in Germany, this was done mainly by the butchers. Very often, they traveled to buy cattle, not only to the surrounding villages but also further afield. People started to use their services for the carrying of mail. In return, the butchers were exempt from the payment of communal rates. By joining the individual routes of the butchers, a continuous network emerged, covering a territory of considerable size. The butchers always announced their arrival and departure from a village by blowing a horn; this is the derivation of the post horn, a symbol inseparable from the image of the stagecoach and postilion of Europe. To be able to blow the horn well was just as much one of the requirements of being a good stagecoach driver as was the ability to master the horses and to drive speedily and safely.
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