Wien 105 (Hernals) was at XVII Bergsteiggasse 26; Wien 107 (Hernals III) was at XVII Hernalser Hauptstrasse 124. They provided a pneumatic service for periods which overlapped during 1946-56.
The "Instradirungs-Behelf" (in later years called "Leitbehelf") is an index, forming the vital link between the address as written on the envelope or card, and the destination number of the pneumatic station from which it would be delivered. [The 1901 edition is discussed here]. Three of these documents were found in the Post Office archives, for 1933, 1940, and 1953. The cover and a page of each are illustrated.
Pic | Details | Comments |
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1933: cover | This is "Brief- und Rohrpost=Leitbehelf für Wien / Juli 1933", the list of all offices with the services available at each. |
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1933: page | Office 105 at XVII Bergsteiggasse 26 has P T & R service (Post, Telegraph, and Rohrpost) while 107 at XVII Hernalser Hauptstrasse 124 has P & T only. |
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1940: cover | This is "Brief- und Rohrpost=Leitbehelf für Alt-Wien / Reichpostdirektion Wien / Juli 1940", the street index showing which office to send pneumatic delivery items to. |
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1940: page | The 1940 street index (the 3 leftmost letters wouldn’t copy; but for example the first entry is Belvedere) showing pneumatic delivery to offices 105 and 107. The dual numbering, eg 148/141, is explained on another page: "If an address has two entries under the Rohrpost column, the second is for use during the period after 18:00 and all day Sundays when the first office is closed".
Half way down the page you can see that both ordinary and pneumatic items for Julius Bergergasse are to be sent to office 107; however ordinary mail for Johann Nepomuk Berger Platz nos 12 & 13 is to be sent to office 107 but pneumatic items to office 105. Hence both were in operation as pneumatic mail delivery offices at that date. |
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1953: cover | This is "Brief- und Rohrpost=Leitbehelf für Wien / Oktober 1953", a list of the offices to send telegrams and pneumatic items to. [The Vienna Technical Museum reference for this (the scored-out B1667) was B2230 in 2005] |
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1953: page | This page shows that items for office Wien 1 are to be sent to 'W' (defined as Telegraphenzentralstation), 20 goes to 129, 27 to 27, 31 to 27 and so forth. In particular 107 apparently covers Bezirke XVI and XVII, and pneumatic items for it are to be sent to it; however 105 isn't listed at all. |
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1938: card | This card was written on 18 April 1938 but posted the following afternoon; it invites members of the association to attend a celebration of Hitler’s birthday on the 20th. It is franked with 30 + 3x3 = 39 Groschen; the rate on that date was 5Rpf=8G for a local postcard plus 30G express fee: total 38G. It was posted at 15 Wien 101 (Westbahnhof) at 3-something pm, receiving an Instradirungs-Chiffre of 107 and arriving at 17 Wien 107 (Hernals) after 4pm |
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1952: reg letter | This registered letter was sent from Wien 9 (Minoritenplatz; never a pneumatic office but it had a red letter-box), possibly cancelled at 16 hrs. It would have been collected by messenger and taken to the Telegraph Central, as shown by the segment cancel on the back timed at 17 hrs. There it received an Instradirungs-Chiffre of 107 and arrived at 17 Wien 107 within the hour. The franking is 4S50. The rates are: local letter 1S + registration fee 2S + express fee 1S50 totalling 4S50. The express fee included pneumatic transport when it seemed sensible to the post office. [The apparent difference in colour between the front and back is a computer artefact!]. |