Peter Faber (Danish telegraph specialist)
Encyclopedia
Peter Christian Frederik Faber (7 October 1810, Copenhagen
– 25 April 1877) was a Danish telegraphy pioneer. In Denmark
, he is remembered first and foremost for his songwriting. Faber was also an amateur photographer
and is credited with the oldest photograph on record in Denmark.
. Together with Hans Christian Ørsted
he wrote a report on the possibility of laying telegraph lines in Denmark. When a line successfully connected Helsingør and Hamburg
, he became the director responsible. Faber quickly replaced the underground cables with overhead wires, extending the telegraph network from 530 km to 2,800 km with 200 relay stations and over 300 employees.
.
of Ulfeldts Plads (now Gråbrødre Torv
) is in the Copenhagen City Museum. It is in fact a mirror image of the square, as was normal for daguerreotypes unless a mirror was used together with the camera. A careful analysis of the photograph is claimed to show that it dates back to July 1840. The exposure time of about 15 minutes in sunlight explains why the only figure to be seen is a man sleeping at the foot of the Pillar of Shame towards the left of the picture.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
– 25 April 1877) was a Danish telegraphy pioneer. In Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, he is remembered first and foremost for his songwriting. Faber was also an amateur photographer
Photography in Denmark
Photography in Denmark has developed from strong participation and interest in the very beginnings of the art in 1839 to the success of a considerable number of Danes in the world of photography today...
and is credited with the oldest photograph on record in Denmark.
Telegraphy
After graduating in technology in 1840, he became an inspector at the Polyteknisk Læreanstalt (College of Advanced Technology) where he carefully followed the development of electromagnetic telegraphyTelegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
. Together with Hans Christian Ørsted
Hans Christian Ørsted
Hans Christian Ørsted was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, an important aspect of electromagnetism...
he wrote a report on the possibility of laying telegraph lines in Denmark. When a line successfully connected Helsingør and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, he became the director responsible. Faber quickly replaced the underground cables with overhead wires, extending the telegraph network from 530 km to 2,800 km with 200 relay stations and over 300 employees.
Song writing
Faber wrote many songs, several of which have remained popular until today. They include Højt fra træets grønne top which is always sung around the family Christmas tree, and Dengang jeg drog af sted, written to celebrate the Danish victory at the 1848 Battle of BovBattle of Bov
The Battle of Bov was a battle between troops fighting for Schleswig-Holstein, and those for Denmark, which happened on April 9, 1848 in the area of Flensborg in Denmark, during the First Schleswig War. Denmark won the engagement...
.
Photography
The oldest photograph taken in Denmark is credited to Peter Faber. His daguerreotypeDaguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
of Ulfeldts Plads (now Gråbrødre Torv
Gråbrødretorv
Gråbrødretorv is a public square in the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark, just off the pedestrian street Strøget.-History:Gråbrødretorv takes its name from a Franciscan friary, which was located at the site from 1238 to 1530 when it was demolished...
) is in the Copenhagen City Museum. It is in fact a mirror image of the square, as was normal for daguerreotypes unless a mirror was used together with the camera. A careful analysis of the photograph is claimed to show that it dates back to July 1840. The exposure time of about 15 minutes in sunlight explains why the only figure to be seen is a man sleeping at the foot of the Pillar of Shame towards the left of the picture.