In Denmark mailboxes are not exactly hidden. They are very red and placed in prominent places, so it's easy finding one. The symbol on top of it is a signal horn used by the old coaches to tell the way stations to ready the new horses, so the tired ones could be changed. The crown of course tells that this was a Royal service going back to King Christian IV, who founded it in 1624. The colours, red and yellow, are the colours of the House of Oldenburg, the family from which the Danish kings since Christian I (1448) have come from. Today the postal service is a semi-private company, partly owned by the state. From next year it'll merge with the Swedish postal service under the name Posten Norden. I wonder if they'll change colours and symbols then?
I hope they won't change those lovely boxes! This one here is cute:)
ReplyDeleteThey are very similar to the UK postal boxes, which are as iconic as the Dannish ones. The UK service is run by tax payer, but there has been talk to selling a share to the private sector.
ReplyDeleteDo the Dannish postal boxes come in different sizes of is the one in the picture the typical version that one may see around Denmark?
My mailbox is on the door, nothing fancy at all :). Must be very interesting to find a postcard from friend in this pretty box. Is your mailbox like this one, too?
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