Denmark says farewell to postboxes

[Hitcore]

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All postboxes will be removed by December. Denmark is among the most digitized countries in the world. 400 years of letters, soon that's over. The end of an era.



I have recently sent my last letter. It was a birthday card, congratulating a 100 year old. It seems fitting.

More information from PostNord:

PostNord will deliver its final letter at the end of 2025

PostNord will deliver its final letter in Denmark at the end of 2025 and focus its business on one core service from 2026: Parcels.

www.postnord.dk

 

[Retro]

This is hardly surprising since the only mail I get nowadays are business letters of one form or another and the amount of those is now much less as I've opted for digital comms wherever possible. If it's something that I have to reply to, there's usually a digital option too, so no physical letter goes back.

The real paper from friends or family that I get now is only the odd birthday or christmas card through the door. All other comms from them is through text or email.

 

[Mars]

...the end of an era indeed.
But I guess only us dinosaurs will mourn the demise of the iconic postbox, should it ever happen here; I hope not.
"Out with the old, in with the new", seems heartless at times, but this is the way of the world.

 

[Retro]

The last physical letter to be delivered by PostNord will be on 30th December. I'm sure the thousands of people losing their jobs over it won't be happy though.

The Danish postal service will deliver its last letter on 30 December, ending a more than 400-year-old tradition.

Announcing the decision earlier this year to stop delivering letters, PostNord, formed in 2009 in a merger of the Swedish and Danish postal services, said it would cut 1,500 jobs in Denmark and remove 1,500 red postboxes amid the “increasing digitalisation” of Danish society.

Describing Denmark as “one of the most digitalised countries in the world”, the company said the demand for letters had “fallen drastically” while online shopping continued to increase, prompting the decision to instead focus on parcels.

Danish postal service to stop delivering letters after 400 years

PostNord’s decision to end service on 30 December comes after fear over ‘increasing digitalisation’ of Danish society

www.theguardian.com

 

[Hitcore]

Such a pity. Ya know, I used to be a mailman/postman myself, a long time ago, talking late '90s till early 2000s. One of the coolest jobs I've ever had. Just sorting the mail and then delivering it myself, on a bicycle, doing everything my own way. Perfect for autismal me. The uniforms looked like this:



Cool and quirky AF! My uniform was like the one on the left, but without the baseball cap (I don't wear caps). It was quite the respectable job too.

I lost the job because the state run PTT Post dissolved and got replaced by private carriers. So I know very well how those 1500 Danish post people will feel.

 

[Retro]

That physical job kept you fit, too. Shame you lost it due to that dissolution.

 

[Mars]

At least I hope the Danish post workers will be well compensated, I really do; this is a blow.
I must say, lovely uniform. And i don't necessarily think autism is involved in liking this type of job: you are free, on your own, in the fresh air, no one looking over your shoulder in some conspiratorial office, just you and your bike. Nice one.

 

[Hitcore]

just you and your bike

Many years later I kind of took this to the extreme. Behold: my postbike, with the OG PTT Post side bags.



When PTT Post dissolved in 2002, they were going to destroy everything with the PTT logo on it. Not on my watch. So I simply never returned the bags. The trailer you see there is a much later addition, bought that in 2018. Same with the front basket. And the bicycle itself of course, this is not the original bike I did my rounds with. This bike I also got in 2018. It's a Kronan, Swedish Army bike, in fire red. Aesthetically all of this put together it totally fits.



Annnnnnd this is everything unpacked. Since this bike and gear is heavy duty, I figured it's perfect for camping trips. The building you see here is an actual abandoned post office btw. In 2020 I lived there for a while, no joke. That year I also took this gear out on a major trip.

I bicycled from Rotterdam, The Netherlands to Copenhagen, Denmark.



With camping illegally in the wild and everything. The whole trip took me 9 days. Distance covered: 900 kilometer. So a clean 100 kilometer a day on average. In full PTT-Post outfit too, 18 years after PTT-Post ceased to exist. It turned a few heads.

Perhaps I'll make a dedicated thread about this trip some day.

 

[Mars]

Well, it looks like you certainly did some cycling there. Why was it camping illegally, was it private land or something?
It is the kind of trip that stays with you forever. Did the wildlife come to investigate the strange human in their midst?

 

[Hitcore]

Camping outside of designated camping areas in The Netherlands is illegal, same with Germany.
In Denmark it's technically also not allowed but here it's more relaxed: as long as you're not on private property no one will really care.

No wildlife encounters.

 

[Mars]

People generally don't care much for the landscape, and picnic sites may look like rubbish dumps sometimes, with cans and wrappers scattered about, so owners like to keep their land private.
Main thing, you had a trip to remember: In full PTT-Post outfit too, 18 years after PTT-Post ceased to exist.... understandably it turned a few heads
I bet you didn't mind the solitude, but a visit from foxy would have been nice, he would have only been after your sandwich.