March 31, 2010: What did the last ever telegram sent in Czechia say?
There was a time when telegrams were the pinnacle of modern communication. Their era definitively ended on March 31, 2010, when the very last telegram was sent on the territory of the Czech Republic. This historical artefact is now exhibited in the Pelhřimov Museum of Records and Curiosities.
The author of the last message was student Martin Jonáš, who sent the telegram shortly before midnight. It read: "Martin Jonas sent the last telegram in the history of Czech Post to the Museum of Records and Curiosities.” This message gave Martin Jonáš a few minutes in the limelight and brought to a close the 160-year-long era of this now defunct service.
The first telegraph line was established in the Czech lands in 1846 from Vienna to Brno, a year later it was extended to Prague. From February 1850, the public could also use this service on the territory of the present-day Czech Republic. By 1900 there were already almost 800 telegraph stations in the Czech Republic. In 1918 news of the founding of Czechoslovakia was delivered by telegram.
In the days of communism, telegrams enjoyed their hey-day - around ten million were sent annually, announcing arrivals of family members, well-wishes or the birth of a child. With the advent of electronic communication and modern technology in the 1990s, their popularity plummeted and their demise was inevitable.
