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First, just a little geography... Bräunerstrasse runs from Graben across Stallburggasse to Josefsplatz, in the heart of Vienna's centre. |
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A tangled tale, illustrating the complexities of a changing and expanding system and the cross-checking that sometimes (not always) clarifies the detail! From the available data, we have drawn the following conclusions on when and whence pneumatic service was provided from within these offices.
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First, just a little geography... Bräunerstrasse runs from Graben across Stallburggasse to Josefsplatz, in the heart of Vienna's centre. |
In the book "Kataster der Haupt- und Residenzstadt WIEN" by Jos. Schlesinger, WIEN 1885, one reads: "Stallburggasse 4 was the formal entrance of the large town-palace of the Countess Attems. Habsburgergasse 9 is the left wing of the building, and the right wing is Bräunerstrasse 12". It is normal in Vienna for a large building to have different addresses for different doors, especially if they are in different streets! At the ground floor level both wings are now occupied by shops, and no side entrances are visible. See also the Eyewitness Guide Book for Vienna, 1999 edition page 91; the "bird's eye view" of the Hofburg-Graben area clearly shows this building as having a courtyard inside it, which would be the service accesses to the Countess's Palace.
In the following table, an underlined address means "the street number was explicitly stated in the source".
Date | Event | Source or Proof |
| 1867 | WIEN 11 Post Office opened in Habsburggasse | Stohl A2477; Klein 5745 |
| 1867 | Postamt 11, founded in 1867 as "Postamt mit Fahrpost", & located at "Braeunerstrasse 12", followed by the addendum "unter Habsburggasse". | Opost lists |
| "unter X" means in this context "under the name X". This must mean a connection to the Habsburgergasse wing, because the "Fahrpost" (which was horse-drawn coaches with parcels and travellers) needed space and a through passageway. | ||
| 1880 | "A Pneumatic Office opened in Habsburggasse" | "1867 Müller" p238 Nr 4760. |
| This must have been planned but not implemented | ||
| 1889 | Telegraph service opens at WIEN 11 in Habsburggasse on 1.5.1889 | Opost lists |
| 1890 | The street "Habsburggasse" was renamed "Habsburgergasse". | Stohl A2477; 1891 Baedeker Map |
| 1891 | The Police HQ was at Schottenring 11 | 1891 Baedeker Map |
| 1892 | There was a post and telegraph office at Habsburgergasse 9 called WIEN 11, and a telegraph-only office at the corner of Graben 14 / Bräunerstrasse 2 called WIEN 13. Neither provided a pneumatic service; both had red postboxes adjacent. | Renumbering Decree (see article on it); and Stohl A2477 1892 Post & Telegraph directory |
| 1894 | 1.11.1894 "1/1 WIEN 13" opens at Bräunerstrasse | Stohl A2479; he lists no A-cancels from this address but does have a pneumatic one: R0011a. Not in Klein. |
| 1894 | New pipe run from Centrale to P.A. Wien 13 (Bräunerstrasse) to P.A. Wien 15 | Hajek p14 |
| 1894 | WIEN 13 began to provide pneumatic services | Hajek p77 (Note that Hajek only gives years, not months or days) |
| 1894 | "Rohrpost at the Telegraph Office 13 started on 1.11.1894; contemporary translocation to Bräunerstrasse 4-6; new name: "k.k. Rohrpost- und Telegraphenamt WIEN 13"; supervision by the head of the k.k. Post- und Telegraphenamt 11." | Circular-Verordnungen der k.k. Post- und Telegraphen-Direction für Oesterreich unter der Enns 1894/18 |
| 1899 | WIEN 13 providing pneumatic services at Bräunerstrasse 4 & 6 in June. | 1899 Circularverordnung |
| 1900 | WIEN 13 providing pneumatic services at Bräunerstrasse; WIEN 11 wasn't open as a pneumatic office. | 1900 Map |
| 1901 | WIEN 13 providing pneumatic services at Bräunerstrasse 4 & 6 in June. | 1901 Circularverordnung |
| 1901 | WIEN 13 closed as Telegraph office, 16.10 1901 | Opost lists |
| 1901 | WIEN 13 closes as a post office on 16.11.1901 | Stohl A2479 |
| 1901 | WIEN 11 providing postal, telegraph, telephone and pneumatic services at Bräunerstrasse. WIEN 13 not mentioned | Instradirungs-Behelf dated Nov 1901 |
| The Instradirungs-Behelf is is a directory which lists for each street in Vienna the appropriate pneumatic (et al) station: for use by pneumatic office dispatch clerks. See separate article (close when done with). | ||
| 1902 | Pneumatic office WIEN 13 renamed as WIEN 11 | Hajek p77: "Umbenennung von WIEN 13 in WIEN 11"; also 1903 map. |
| This must have resulted in the pneumatic service being transferred to the Bräunerstrasse 12 building belonging to WIEN 11, the WIEN 13 postal service being discontinued, and the office number "WIEN 13" disappearing, because (i) "WIEN 13" was reused in 1905 (ii) the postal function of WIEN 11 operated till 1923 (ii) the pneumatic function of WIEN 11 operated from Bräunerstrasse 12 till 1932. | ||
| 1905 | Office number WIEN 13 was reused for a pneumatic and postal office in the Police HQ at Schottenring 11; opened 20.3.1905. | Stohl A2479; he lists cancels in use 1905-1917. Also Hajek p37 & p77 |
| This was a reuse of the number 13, not a reopening of the old office. | ||
| 1907 | WIEN 11 was providing pneumatic services in Bräunerstrasse and WIEN 13 at Police HQ | 1907 map, Turner p12 |
| 1908 | Schatz made "1/1 WIEN 13 2a" on 9.11.1908 | Görig. This is Stohl's A2479f, recorded 1908-1917. No minutes. |
| Schatz was one of the two Official Cancel Makers & Repairers; Görig transcribed his records; the APS Library contains a copy as Item 386. | ||
| 1909 | Schatz made "1/1 WIEN 11 P." on 1.2.1909 | Görig. Matches Stohl R0010b, with minutes. |
| 1909 | Schatz made "1 WIEN 11 p" on 18.2.1909 | Görig. Matches Stohl A2477ak, type 6l20; minutes ambiguous. |
| 1912 | Schatz made "1/1 WIEN 11 7a" on 28.2.1912 | Görig. Matches Stohl R0010c, with minutes. |
| 1913 | WIEN 11 was providing pneumatic services in Bräunerstrasse and WIEN 13 at Police HQ | 1913 map, Hajek App.1 |
| 1922 | WIEN 13 closes as Police HQ's post office on 8.4.1922. | Stohl A2479 |
| 1922 | WIEN 13 closes as Police HQ's pneumatic office. | Hajek p79 |
| 1922 | WIEN 13, in the Police HQ building, closed from 8 April 1922; services available from Wien 8 | "Amtsblatt der Postdirektion für Wien und Nieder-österreich in Wien / Nummer 6 Wien, 1. April 1922." |
| 1923 | Stohl says at A2477 & R0010 for WIEN 11: "A 19.2.1923 (dem PA WIEN 9 eingeglidert)". He lists WIEN 9 at WIEN 1014 which says "am 19.2.1923 wurde das PA WIEN 11 eingegliedert" | "eingegliedert" means "incorporated" or "merged". "A" = "Aufgelassen" means "closed." |
| WIEN 9 operated from 1883 to today, moving from Herrenhaus to Minoritenplatz 9 to Wallnerstrasse 5-7. We deduce that what Stohl means is that the POSTAL function of WIEN 11 was transferred to the WIEN 9 office, and Habsburgergasse 9 closed. WIEN 11's Rohrpost function remained intact at Bräunerstrasse 12 until 1932. | ||
| 1925 | Schatz modified "T.A. 1 WIEN 11 R/a" by removing the "T.A" on 6.11.1925 | Görig. It then matches Stohl R0010d. |
| 1929 | Schatz made "1/1 WIEN 11 p" on 18.2.1929 | Görig |
| 1932 | WIEN 11 providing pneumatic service from Bräunerstrasse 12. | 10. Dienstanweisung, vol 2 p23. |
| Turner's 1956 map shows (in the box on the left) the pipe running along Graben and down Bräunerstrasse. | ||
| 1932 | WIEN 11 closes as pneumatic office. WIEN 11 closes as post office | Hajek p79; Opost list |
| 1956 | WIEN 11 and WIEN 13 confirmed closed as Pneumatic offices | 1956 map, Turner |
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