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Letters from Besieged Paris


By Erik Jensen

During the German siege of Paris in 1870-1871 the citizens kept in contact with the surrounding world by untraditional methods such as carrier pigeons. One pigeon could transport 50,000 microfilmed messages at one and the same time.


You may find it hard to believe that a carrier pigeon could transport as many as 50,000 messages at a time, but it is nonetheless true. During the complete Prussian siege of Paris from 19th September 1870 to 28th January 1871 the encircled citizens and soldiers would correspond with the outside world in unorthodox ways e.g. via the Seine by letters in sealed balls and via air by manned or unmanned balloons.

Towards Paris attempts with carrier pigeons were made. Several of the balloons from Paris contained carrier pigeons which were supposed to return with messages from the surrounding world. The carrier pigeon mail was collected in Tours where the individual messages were mounted in columns like in a newspaper and microfilmed on a very thin collodium strip which was rolled up in a feather bag tied to the pigeons’ tail feathers by a thin silk thread. Each pigeon could carry 18 strips with totally about 50,000 messages. In Paris the collodium strips were projected on a white screen by means of a strong enlarger, copied, and delivered to the recipients.

About 300 pigeons survived the balloon voyage out of Paris and 59 managed to return to the besieged town with news from outside. One of the pigeons even did the trip four times! Savagely shooting Prussian soldiers and birds of prey thinned the ranks of the carrier pigeon corps.

The museum possesses one carrier pigeon letter from the siege of Paris measuring 28 x 37 mm as well as one of the special balloon mail letters. The letter is a folded sheet stamped "PAR BALLON MONTÉ" in the upper left corner on the address side. It is franked with a 20 and a 30 centimes stamp featuring a portrait of Napoleon III and was sent on 18th November 1870 to Brede near Lyngby where it arrived already eight days later. It was probably sent out of Paris by the balloon "Général Uhrich".

At the beginning small balloons (one metre in diameter) were sent up each carrying a case with only a few letters. However, this method soon proved to be rather unsafe. Far too many balloons were never retrieved and a number of them fell into enemy hands. Moreover, the capacity was far too small for the demand.

Consequently, the postmaster-general of Paris systematized the conveyance of balloon mail. The individual letters should weigh max. 4 g and the sheets were therefore of very thin paper. Two balloon workshops were established and airmail skippers were employed to make sure that the balloons left the city at an altitude of at least 1,100 metres so that they avoided being shot down.

The first manned balloon was sent up on 23rd September 1870. It carried 100 kilos of mail equal to about 25,000 letters, but towards the end of the siege the balloons were able to carry up to 500 kilos of mail. Occasionally, they also conveyed passengers and the amount of mail had to be reduced accordingly. On 7th October 1870 a passenger weighed so much that only 10 kilos of mail could be brought along.

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