Life before email: A look back at the 'vacuum post'

Now Berlin's vacuum post lies disused. 31 November this year marks its last official day, and the old system is now in the hands of developers. The entire area around the old post office is to be redeveloped into offices and housing.

Our guide told us the future of these few remaining parts of the infrastructure is in doubt, although volunteers are ready to help recreate the vacuum post in all its former glory.

While most people will not remember the vacuum post, it does have its place in history. The principle of the system was that a message was received as a packet of information and then sent to another point. From this second point, it could be delivered to its final address or sent on to another post office to continue its journey. In that way a packet could travel a considerable distance across Germany.

The principle of transmitting a packet of information from point to point to delivery is the same one that underlies the internet today. In that sense, the vacuum post was the world's first internet.