The Prussian semaphore system was a telegraphic communications system used between Berlin and the Rhine Province from 1832 to 1849. It could transmit administrative and military messages by optical signal over a distance of nearly 550 kilometres (340 mi). The telegraph line comprised 62 stations each furnished with a signal mast with six cable-operated arms. The stations were equipped with telescopes that operators used to copy coded messages and forward them to the next station. Three dispatch departments (telegraphische Expeditionen) located in Berlin, Cologne and Koblenz handled the coding and decoding of official telegrams. Although electric telegraphy made the system obsolete for military use, simplified semaphores were still used for railway signals.
Historical background At the time of construction of the Prussian semaphore system, the technology had already been known for thirty years. It was based on earlier designs by Claude Chappe and his brother which were in use in France on many telegraph lines from 1794. Soon Sweden, Denmark, and England also had working optical telegraph systems while couriers remained in use throughout Germany. The states that existed in German-speaking areas at the end of the 18th century were uninterested in a communications system that crossed multiple borders and the political conditions did not exist to put the necessary treaties and agreements in place among these states. Countries such as Sweden, England and France had the necessary centralized control for such a project, and they confronted political, military and economic challenges such as securing long coastlines, and controlling sea routes. They were therefore far more motivated to build an advanced communications network. Prussia was at that time the second largest German state in terms of area and it saw no structural or political necessity for the introduction of telegraphy after the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815. Plans for the construction of a first telegraph line were delayed by resistance from the conservative Prussian military, even when the usefulness of mobile telegraphy in war is taken into account. It was exactly this technology that was used with success by Napoleon Bonaparte and this at least awakened the interest of the Prussian military. However, Prussia was confronted with a fragile domestic political situation in its western provinces at the beginning of the 1830s. Nobles and liberals from the Rhine region were opposed to the administration in Berlin. They were strengthened in their movement for a national constitution by the July Revolution in France and the revolution in Belgium in 1830. In this time of turmoil, urgent official messages traveled slowly by courier on horseback. This was unsatisfactory to the Prussian military, therefore, the proponents of a telegraph network could finally execute a plan for a line from Berlin to Koblenz via Cologne. The technical idea and the initiative to build the then longest telegraph line in central Europe came from the Geheime Postrat Carl Philipp Heinrich Pistor. Pistor wrote a memorandum to the Prussian General Staff in December 1830 which laid out a draft proposal for a telegraph line within the Royal Prussian States. Pistor’s ideas were inspired by the Englishman Bernard L. Watson whose designs were based on the "Second Polygrammatic Telegraph" of William Pasley. The design went back to 1810 and consisted of a mast with six telegraph arms. Pistor took the six-arm principle and thoroughly reworked the mechanics of the construction. Further, his workshop developed the optical telescopes which were a necessary component of the system. The order for the construction of the system was finally given by an order of the Prussian Cabinet on 21 July 1832. The Prussian system remained the only state-run optical telegraph system within German territory. There were also a couple of examples of privately run systems. The first existed between 1837 and 1850 and was created by the Altona businessman Johann Ludwig Schmidt who operated it as a signal system for ships between the mouth of the Elbe at Cuxhaven and Port of Hamburg. From 1841, this system was run by Friedrich Clemens Gerke, a pioneer in telegraphy for whom the modern telecommunications tower in Cuxhaven is named. The second, also created by Schmidt was inaugurated in 1847. This system ran between Bremen and Bremerhaven, but this second system was taken out of service by 1852 because a competing electric telegraph line that was placed into service at almost the same time.
Construction and function As with later telegraph operations, the responsibility for the construction of the entire system fell to the Prussian Military. Major Franz August O'Etzel led the construction. O'Etzel studied in Berlin and Paris and trained as pharmacist. He knew the Rhineland as he had previously done survey work in the region. Along with the construction, O'Etzel also concerned himself with the necessary codes for transmitting messages. He wrote the codebooks for the line. Once construction was complete, he was given the title of "Director of the Royal Prussian Telegraph" and he oversaw the operations of the entire system.
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