The Old Post Office
The first post delivery company in Jork was set up in the town centre in 1857. In 1907 the west wing of this large house on the photograph was rented by the post office, so as to meet growing postal demands. Initially seven civil servants were employed, but the number increased to 24 in 1920, due to growing obligations, such as the manually operated switchboards with their ‘switchboard girls’ (Fräulein vom Amt), and delivery services by Imperial Post coaches, with which one could also travel to Buxtehude, Stade or Harburg three times a day.
Those were the days, when being Post Master or Post Office Head – no women were allowed to hold the appointment then – was one of the most respected positions in the town, along with that of church minister and mayor. After all, he had important duties to carry out. In 1975 the Jork Post was due to be modernised, and a new house was built in the traditional half-timbered style on its own site to the right of the Old Post Office. Behind it today is the electronic telephone exchange, with its 30-metre-high directional radio tower. The large square, where bus arrivals and departures once took place, is no longer in use. And in 2004, another change occurred, when the ‘new’ post office was relinquished as well, and a Post ‘agent’ replaced it at the Schliecker electronics store opposite.
