The History of Communication

The museum's permanent exhibition presents a nostalgic Museets permanente udstilling byder på et nostalgisk meeting with the telephone or telephone box of your childhood, royal stories about King Christian IV who established the Danish Postal Service, narratives of C.F. Tietgen, who travelled by the iceboat in 1850 and founded the first Danish telephone company in 1881.

And last, but not least you can see the first mobile phones which look like prehistoric finds in our days although they are only 25 years old. 

We are also offering guided tours outside the opening hours of the museum. Please contact us if you want us to tailor an arrangement according to your specific needs.   

The Café

Combine a guided tour with a good lunch in the museum café and enjoy the unique view of the many towers and spires of Copenhagen. 

Click here to enter the homepage of Café Hovedtelegrafen.

Guided Tours

The Permanent Exhibition

The Danish history of communication from 1624 till today is presented on the basis of the highlights: King Christian IV's establishment of the postal service, the introduction of the stamp, the optical and electrical telegraph, the telephone, the radio, and the mobile phone.  

The Palmy Days of the Post

The King's Post Office from 1624 to 1854, its importance to the development of the Danish infrastructure, and perspectives on the development of society in general, incl. the school reform of 1814 og Denmark's Constitution of 1849. 

The Golden Age of the Telegraph

The story of the semaphore which was in operation in Denmark from 1801 to the 1860's. It was mainly used in times of war when the Danes would send secret messages via a system of wooden boards suspended from high posts.

The semaphore was replaced by the electric telegraph which established itself all over the world and developed into the first worldwide communication network with brand new opportunities for the business sector and the media.  

The Century of the Telephone

The telephone came to Denmark early, but it took quite some time before the Danes considered it an epoch-making invention. It was critisized for being expensive, malfunctioning, disturbing, and unnecessarily time-consuming. Nevertheless, a veritable underwood of small, local telephone companies sprouted up.

The guided tour presents the introduction and progress of the telephone in Denmark, the development of telephone apparatuses as well as the telephone companies and their employees.    

Prices

The price of a one-hour guided tour during the museum's opening hours is DKK 500/67 € for up to 30 persons.

Outside opening hours the prices are DKK 750/100 € on weekdays and DKK 1,000/133,4 € on Saturdays and Sundays.