It is certainly no coincidence that the world's shortest short story, condensing the whole drama of a life from cradle to grave in just six words, is attributed to Hemingway: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn".
While the authorship remains a legend, it fits all too well.
Because just as digitality, which overcame borders, brought with it a poetics of proliferation, a style of its own came into being with the telegram, if only for reasons of cost.
"Arrive on Friday the 13th", as Reinhard Mey sang, otherwise not at a loss for a word, was simply cheap with a tariff that was based on the number of words.
The telegram style shaped not only journalism, but also the concise, factual literature that Hemingway stood for, who, as a reporter, sent his stories via the telegraph office.
Love was declared in telegrams and sometimes also war, whether between countries, after Bismarck cut his “Emser Depesche” in 1870 so tersely that France raged, or between adventurers.
Flags on the way, upheaval soon
After Amundsen telegramed his rival Scott in 1910 that he was heading for the South Pole, he is said to have been so paralyzed that he lost the polar race, although Amundsen only got there a year later.
Telegrams might have saved the Titanic if only the captain had read them in time.
During the Cold War, they were indispensable for maintaining contact between the two sides of the Wall.
The special thing about the telegram was always that it signaled urgency.
For example, the publisher Siegfried Unseld telegramed the importance of his authors: "Flags on the way", he cabled Thomas Bernhard into Salzburg: "Upheaval soon".
A telegram was never irrelevant, which is why it often brought bad news, sudden illnesses, deaths or canceled weddings, after the groom suddenly said taciturnly: "I'd rather not".
Samuel Morse wired the first electrical message in 1844: "What hath God wrought" - a "great hour" for Stefan Zweig.
Morse actually wanted to go down in history with his painting, instead it became a Bible verse from the 4th book of Moses.
When the last telegram starts its journey on December 31st and the service is discontinued, it will end - stop - after 178 years - stop - a chapter in the history of telecommunications - what a pity - stop.