Telefontornet - communication lock

Every signalman has a favorite technology and there is a technology or gadget that he is sad about. I have many of them, but among others, WiMax stands out – I remember how we were inspired by its prospects and carefully studied the technology. It seemed that this is it, the future is in your hands – and this future is outperformed by the “marketing” LTE, which is purely technically a less worthy competitor. Well, now, it turns out, there is nothing to be sad about – other technologies turned out to be more effective. There are many cases in the history of communications when something promising and grandiose quickly went down in history, sometimes without leaving a trace … And sometimes leaving a truly beautiful, almost fabulous trace. Have you heard of Telefontornet?

The smoke of tall chimneys, the flight of gray clouds, The approach of cold winds will show us. The dance of the sun's rays in the web of wires Above the tin roofs of shabby houses. — The smoke of tall chimneys, the flight of gray clouds, The approach of cold winds will show us. The dance of the sun’s rays in the web of wires Above the tin roofs of shabby houses.

The story begins like this: in 1887, a tower was built in Stockholm to provide telephone communications … But no, not like that. Why Stockholm? Tower, not tower?

It all started in 1876 when the first long distance telephone call was made. The telephone had already been patented and aroused the interest of the rulers of different countries: it so happened that in 1877 the Swedish king Oscar II received his first call. The ruler decided that the country needed this technology and in 4 years 121 telephones were installed in Sweden. Now it seems to us something extremely small, but then it was not only difficult to install a telephone, but also very expensive: depending on the length of the line, the owner had to pay from 160 to 280 SEK. This could only afford to know.

But, as you know, the role of the individual in history is always important – and it was enough for this one individual to want to telephonize Stockholm. At that time, Henrik Thore Cedergren had already created the telephone company Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolag (SAT) and this business became dominant for him. He was an outstanding entrepreneur and engineer who not only brilliantly administered the company and staff, but traveled to the United States to master advanced telephone technology, delving into technology and infrastructure himself. And, if the name Sedergren is not familiar to you, then you definitely heard something about the name of the person whose company he chose as a supplier for his SAT. It was also a Swede – Lars Magnus Eriksson. SAT and Ericsson created a real telephone miracle in Sweden, because the ambitious and daring Henrik Thor Sedergren proclaimed the slogan: “A telephone at a low price in every home” and connected by 1886 … 4832 subscribers! It was 22 phones per thousand inhabitants – an absolute world record: in Berlin there were 3.3 phones per 1000 Berliners; in London – 0.9; in Paris – 1.4; in Copenhagen – 4.9.

I give you a certificate. SAT was founded in 1883 and announced itself as a competitor to the Stockholm division of Bell. It is logical that SAT could not purchase equipment from Bell and needed another supplier, which became LM Ericsson. Swedish telecommunications partners later supplied equipment and communications not only in their homeland, but also in Warsaw, Moscow, Mexico City and other cities of the world. In 1918 they became the single company Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, the parent company of Ericsson as we know it.

Communication in those days was, of course, wired, and a new problem arose – the wires had to be “wound and closed” somewhere, namely, a large single switch with many lines was needed. So in 1887-1890, Telefontornet appeared – the world’s largest telephone tower, whose record (5500 lines) no one broke (guess why?). The tower was erected over the main building of the SAT headquarters. More than 5,000 km of wires stretched from the tower along the roofs of Stockholm, a bizarre and much needed cobweb entangled the city.

Wires in frigid northern Stockholm were vulnerable: snow, frost and fires were the main problems

In general, the tower was supposed to be even more bizarre: an 80-meter steel mast, but the authorities opposed and agreed with the business on four by 45 meters. But the beautiful (and non-functional) openwork turrets, giving the structure the appearance of a castle, appeared only in 1890, when the “ugly” element of the urban landscape was reconstructed by announcing a competition. So the tower became a landmark, an object of adoration and hatred, because it was it that dominated the entire architectural complex of the city.

However, communication engineers saw the obvious problems of hanging wires: winter troubles, short service life, sagging and breaks, costly and difficult maintenance, ugly city skies, and so on.

The sky of Stockholm was tangled in wires

Therefore, back in the early 1890s, telephone cables began to go underground. And already in 1913, only some lines went from the tower, it ceased to be the main telephone tower and remained rather a part of the architectural ensemble and a monument of very recent history. However, the tower still had to play the role of … an advertising medium: in 1939, the largest clock in Europe with a diameter of 7.6 m and a weight of 7 tons was installed on it. They were visible from everywhere, and the letters N and K flaunted on the dial – the logo of the largest Nordiska Kompaniet department stores (department stores are still functioning).

Almost steampunk in the middle of a European city

N and K made it difficult to recognize the time from the city clock - but what an advertising reach! — N and K made it difficult to recognize the time from the city clock – but what an advertising reach!

By the way, in the communication environment there is a version that it was the “spider” sky of Stockholm that became the main incentive for laying cables in the ground all over the world – judging by the photographs, it was really very creepy.