Clapper Post (german: Klapperpost) was an urban postal service in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the capital of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and in some of the country's other cities, that began in 1772. Its name refers to a '' clapper'' (a type of rattle) with which

mail carriers The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

announced their arrival. In Vienna, it existed for more than ten years. File:Hieronymus Benedikt Klapperbote.jpg, Clapper mailman (

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

; late 18th century) File:Cover Klapperpost Prague.jpg, A unique

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

with 50 florins in the form of banknotes from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

to the town councillors of Ungarisch Skalitz (today's Skalica,

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

; 1783)

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{cite web, url=http://www.constabulary.com/mystery/rattle.htm , title=The Victorian police rattle mystery , accessdate=2009-02-05 , publisher=Constabulary.com , url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218043036/http://www.constabulary.com/mystery/rattle.htm , archivedate=2010-02-18 , df= Photos of similar rattles are given that were used by English police in the 19th century Postal history 18th century in Vienna 1772 establishments in Austria