pneumatic tube correspondence of the week 3

From the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City.

signs of tubes in berlin

As I mentioned in a previous post, I visited Berlin recently and was looking out for signs of the rorhpost. Here is a glimpse I found in the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin:

Like in the museum, the tubes are fairly hidden, and take a little bit of searching out, but there they are all along ...

the last letter

I saw this letter, sent via rohrpost, at the Jewish Museum in Berlin last month.

Here is the tragic story of this piece of mail, transcribed from the museum text:

"Martha Liebermann, the aging widow of painter Max Liebermann, who died in 1935, wrote this letter to a family friend on March 4, 1943: "Dear esteemed Mr. Alenfeld, I am totally flustered! The bank did not even pay the small amount I requested. Were it not for a friendly visit, I would not have any money at all! Worse still, everyone is frightening me with their talk of deportation! I eagerly await your arrival ... Please, please answer me, gratefully yours, Martha L."

But Erich Alenfeld arrived too late. Just before Martha Liebermann was to be taken from her apartment the next morning, she took an overdose of the barbiturate Veronal"

pneumatic tube correspondence of the week 2

via München Rohrpost ...

Image from Wikipedia.

pneumatic tube correspondence of the week 1

via Hamburg Rohrpost ...

Image from Wikipedia.

rohrpost easter

Over Easter my husband and I went to Berlin, home of one of the largest pneumatic dispatch systems (rohrpost) in the world. We found evidence of this history in the Museum für Kommunikation Berlin, a rather quirky place, with a dark little basement crypt dedicated to their treasures, including the capsules below (with more photographs soon).

I looked everywhere for evidence of the old system on the streets or in buildings but could not find it. Does anyone know were to find reminants of the old postal pneumatic tube systems in Berlin, Paris or any other city? Perhaps we could have found some signs if we had taken a tour run by the Berliner Unterwelten E.V: Society for exploration and documentation of subterranean architecture ...