Why do European post boxes have a "horn" symbol?
//Summary - Level-C2//
The horn symbol on European post boxes originates from the German Reichspost's system established in 1490. Horses and drivers carrying mail used horns to signal their arrival, streamlining postal delivery. This innovation, championed by the Thurn und Taxis family, revolutionized the postal service, reducing delivery times and marking the origin of modern postal systems.
1)
The increase in postal charges has been a hot topic in Japan this year.
Although people don't send letters as often these days, the familiar postal symbol on a red post box—the "T" for the Ministry of Communications or the letter T with a horizontal line added—is still well known.
Have you ever thought about what European postal symbols look like?
2)
European postal symbols:
German post boxes are yellow. In Germany and many other European countries, the postal symbol is a horn, also the symbol of the German postmark.
I heard somewhere that "the European postal symbol is a horn". However, this is not necessarily the case when travelling in Europe.
Nevertheless, I was curious about how many countries use the horn symbol, so I searched the Internet and found that the postal symbols of the following 24 countries (in alphabetical order) are horns. This is just a quick look, so there may be more.
3)
Iceland, Ukraine, Estonia, Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Turkey, Norway, Hungary, Pakistan, Belarus, Poland, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Lithuania, Romania, Russia
So why the horn?
The secret seems to lie in Regensburg, a city in Bavaria, Germany.
4)
The situation of postal delivery in the past:
When literacy rates were low, few people wrote letters, and only a few, such as kings and nobles, needed postal delivery.
In addition, butchers and pharmacists would leave their letters with the postman on the way. Since it was "on the way, " the email would take several weeks to arrive.
So, someone tried to institutionalise the postal service to speed up delivery. This coincides with the history of the German Reichspost, but let's go back to 1490.
5)
Emperor Frederick III of the Holy Roman Empire used the Taxis family, prominent among couriers, to deliver his mail. There was a courier from Bergamo, the ancestor of the Taxis family, Omodeo Tasso, from around 1290 in Italy.
By 1490, stations were established every 5 miles (37.5 kilometres), and a system of changing horses and drivers was established.
A horn (mail horn) was used to announce the arrival of a horse carrying mail at a station. Facilities for waiting horses and drivers, such as Post Hotels, are still present today.
6)
This revolutionary idea allowed horses and drivers to be changed without a break, eliminating unnecessary time for eating and sleeping and allowing faster mail delivery.
In addition, in the Middle Ages, cities were usually surrounded by walls, but efforts were made to shorten the time, such as setting up a station outside the walls or opening the walls when inside with the sound of a horn.
Of course, all this was done with the sound of a horn as a signal.
After Frederick III, Maximilian I asked Franz von Taxis to deliver the mail. The Thurn und Taxis family took over the business and made it a monopoly. Franz's postal system focused on quickly eliminating wasted time and getting letters to their destination.
7)
The greatness of this postal system can be seen in the time it takes for mail to arrive.
For example, it used to take about five weeks to deliver mail from Brussels, where the Emperor lived, to Innsbruck, where the Habsburgs lived, but in 1505, it was possible to deliver it in 5.5 days (6.5 days in winter) and from Brussels to Paris in 44 hours (54 hours in winter).
In 1516, it took five days to deliver mail to Innsbruck (6 days in winter) and 36 hours to deliver mail to Paris (40 hours in winter).
8)
Incidentally, mail was protected from enemy attack during the war. Valuable information, such as strategy, was sent by letter, and it was common practice to write the same content in several letters, just in case.
It is said that instructions from Napoleon's army sometimes failed to reach their intended recipients because only one letter was sent.
9)
After Maximilian I's death, Charles V took over the imperial postal service. After reviewing the routes and eliminating unnecessary areas, the annual salary paid to the Taxis family was reduced.
Until then, although it was called the Imperial Post, private mail had also been delivered for a fee. However, it was emphasised that only Habsburg mail was to be used on the postal routes, which made things difficult for the family.
10)
The House of Thurn und Taxis tried to expand its business. In 1530, it was allowed to handle private mail, develop new routes, and finally become a monopoly in 1545.
11)
The German Imperial Post is the origin of the postal system used worldwide today. The House of Taxis, or the Thurn und Taxis, made its fortune in this business. It established its base in Regensburg in the mid-18th century, and its castle remains an active residence.
12)
The House of Thurn and Taxis and the Holy Roman Empire:
So what kind of family were these castle owners, the Thurn and Taxis?
The House of Thurn and Taxis was formed in 1650 by the union of two Italian families, the House of Thurn and the House of Taxis.
13)
The family was not originally of high status. They were first recognised as nobles in 1608, raised to imperial princes in 1624 and to margraves in 1695. When the postal service was extended to the general public, they accumulated wealth through monopoly.
The House of Thurn and Taxis originated in Lombardy, northern Italy. For convenience, it moved to Brussels, where the Emperor lived, and later the Emperor Palace in Frankfurt in the first half of the 18th century.
This was the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The Imperial Diet met irregularly in different places.
As the sessions often lasted long, wealthy people acted in the Emperor's place at a high financial cost.
Emperor'sing the Imperial Diet, not only could no other economic activities take place, but the economic burden was significant as concerts, plays, and other entertainment had to be provided for the participants.
Typically, the historical resources of the Imperial Diet would be exhausted after serving as the Emperor's representative.
Still, the Thurn Emperor's family, who became the Emperor's representatives to the Imperial Emperor's1748, served as the Emperor's representatives for three genres. It is easy to imagine the economic power of this family.
15)
The Diet of Regensburg in 1663 was critical. It lasted about 150 years, which is why it was also known as the Permanent Imperial Diet. During the latter half of these 150 years, the Thurn and Taxis families acted as the Emperor's representatives.
16)
In 1866, During the war, the Emperor won and nationalised the postal service, ending the Thurn and Taxis postal monopoly that had flourished for some 320 years.
17)
Schloss Thurn und Taxis Castle:
The castle's oldest part is the north wing, which dates from the 12th century. The cloister of the Benedictine monastery has been preserved. After St Emmeram's Church was secularised in 1812, this area became the property of the Thurn and Taxis.
The castle was rebuilt and extended many times before it took its present form. It is more significant than Buckingham Palace in England.
The family moved to Regensburg about 10 years after the completion of their magnificent palace in Frankfurt.
Fortunately, when the theatre burned, some mirrors and furniture were moved from the Frankfurt palace and stored in Regensburg.
However, as it was an old building that had been renovated, the ceilings were low, and the effort and ingenuity involved could be seen everywhere.
18)
In any case, the fact that aristocrats with power throughout Europe moved to Regensburg is significant for the city's development.
Other things to mention include the Viennese sociability, the 2,330 privately owned books (which have been open to the public since 1786), the theatre, and the green space in the southern part of the old town.
19)
The 11th Marquise Gloria (mother of the 12th Marquise) still lives in this castle. Although it is an active residence, it is a valuable castle that can be visited by joining the guided tours several times daily.
20)
When I visited the other day, the room where the dinner was being prepared had a white tablecloth on the table, removed from the usual tour of the castle.
Some of the castle's rooms are also hired for weddings and ceremonies.
Several concerts are held in the courtyard every July, and at the end of November (from November 22 2024), the grounds are opened to the public for a Christmas market.
As a charitable activity, some books are available for the public to read, and up to 300 free meals are served each day, making it a very open castle.
21)
The Thurn and Taxis Castle in Regensburg is 'alive' in the present and still exudes the glory of the past. After learning about its historical background, you should visit it.
Why do European post boxes have a "horn" symbol?
Schloss Thurn und Taxis
https://4travel.jp/os_shisetsu/10419454
Compilation of mailboxes around the world
https://photo1124.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-695.html
[Mexico City] Palacio Postal, the most beautiful post office in the world
https://amiga-mexico.me/articles/935
[Travelogue] Pilgrimage to the Holy Land of "Orpheus' Window" - Regensburg Trip
https://www.anastasia1997.tokyo/entry/2019/10/08/062129
"Orpheus' Window" is a story about the strange lives of three young men set in early 20th-century Europe. The story begins in Regensburg, Germany. This city has an old music school where the three men meet and spend their irreplaceable youth. However, the swell of the times does not allow them to remain boys for long, and the story moves to Austria on the eve of the First World War and Russia on the eve of the Russian Revolution. The lives of individuals who are helpless in the face of history and the nation, the pain of losing things but still continuing to live. However, the little joy, love, and hope that human activities produce amid all this. This masterpiece profoundly depicts the nation and revolution through the strange lives of three men.
This castle served as the model for St. Sebastian's School. A music school in Regensburg was also modelled after this castle. A marquis still lives in this castle, and viewing and photography are restricted. Countess von Behringer was set as the daughter of the Marquis of Thurn und Taxis. The part that is thought to have been the model for Orpheus' Window can be seen from the park surrounding the castle.
Postal trivia - The history and culture of postal services
The beginning of postal service in Japan
March 1, 1871 (April 20, Gregorian calendar), is considered the beginning of postal service in Japan. This was the day the government-run postal service (system) began between Tokyo and Osaka.
Maejima Mitsuru (the man featured on the 1 yen stamp), known as the "father of postal service," was appointed "Ekiteigon no Kami" (chief postal officer) in 1870 (Meiji 3). After seeing that 1,500 Ryo was being spent per month on delivering government documents, he decided that the postal service could be made into a business and created the Japanese postal system with today's "nationwide uniform rates." The words "post" and "postage stamp" were also chosen by Maejima himself.
The Beginning of Japan's Postal System: Eiichi Shibusawa and Mitsuru Maejima
A system that anyone can use equally, built by the father of modern Japanese postal service, Mitsuru Maejima
It was the Meiji era after the new government was formed following the Meiji Restoration. As new waves swept the world, many thought, "Japan cannot survive if things continue like this."
Building a new country was necessary, and various differences of opinion led to turmoil at the end of the Edo period.
Amid this, Mitsuru Maejima, who played a significant role in developing social infrastructure alongside Eiichi Shibusawa, is also known as the "father of modern Japanese postal service." His portrait is currently featured on the one-yen stamp.
The relationship between Eiichi Shibusawa and Mitsuru Maejima
Let us clarify here the relationship between Shibusawa Eiichi and Maejima Mitsuru.
After Shibusawa Eiichi returned from France as an escort for Tokugawa Akitake, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was living in Sunpu (Shizuoka) at the time, established the Commercial Association, where samurai and merchants worked together to run a business, making use of the knowledge he had learned in Paris. Among those who joined the group were Sugiura Yuzuru and Maejima Mitsuru, who had accompanied him to France. Together, they managed the Commercial Association.
Royal Mail is the British postal service's brand name.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail
The Royal Mail's history dates back to 1516. Henry VIII created the post of Master of the Posts, which was later changed to Postmaster General. Charles I made Royal Mail service available to the public on July 31 1635, and the recipient paid for the postage. In 1660, Charles II established the General Post Office.
Ralph Allen, postmaster of Bath from 1719 to 1763, signed several contracts to strengthen and expand the British postal network, which resulted in the creation of a mail coach service run by Wilson & Company of London and Williams & Company of Bath. The mail coach looked almost identical to a regular carriage but bore the post office coat of arms.
JAPAN POST Co., Ltd.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Post_Co._(JP)
Japan Post Co., Ltd. (JP) is a unique company headquartered in Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, that handles postal services in Japan and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings Co., Ltd.
After its privatisation in 2007, Japan Post was established as Japan Post Co., Ltd.. In 2012, it merged with Japan Post Co., Ltd. (commonly known as Japan Post) and changed its name to the current one.
