[PW] Re: London to Berlin travel time before railways

[Adrian Smith]

James J. Sheehan: German History 1770-1866 pages 72-73 mentions Boswell
(F.A. Pottle, 1953: Boswell on the Grand Tour ...1764), Goethe and
Casanova ...

He says water transport was preferrable to overland routes:
Mainz-Cologne 30 hours (3 days overland)

Berlin-Frankfurt 9 days
Augsburg-Munich 2 days

Perhaps a biography of King George I or the diary/letters of a
travelling composer/musician who came to London would help?

Adrian Smith, Headingley


-----Original Message-----
From: project-wombat-fm-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org
[mailto:project-wombat-fm-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] 

On Behalf Of Peter Macinnis
Sent: 04 November 2006 04:35
To: list at project-wombat.org
Subject: [PW] London to Berlin travel time before railways


This is for me, so please do not engage in over-exertion.  I need to 
know how long it would take a traveller or a messenger to get from 
Berlin to London in pre-steam transport, say around 1750 to 1820, 
assuming no warfare or bad weather at the time.

I am seeking a comparison with the six minutes taken for a telegraphic 
signal to advise Queen Victoria in Windsor of the birth of the future 
Kaiser Wilhelm II, her grandson, in Berlin.

The messenger time (such as that of a King's Messenger) would be best, 
but I suspect the only way this will show up is in Googling far cleverer

than mine, or in somebody knowing that X had an account of such a trip 
in a journal.  Pointers in the right direction will do.

If needs must be, I will do some sums based on approximate road 
distances and sea routes, but it would be nice to have real figures. 
Casanova made the trip, but seems to have swanned around -- I am seeking

a diligent traveller's account.

in hope

-- 
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  /     \   Runner-up, Wallangumba submarine chess festival,
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