In the period around 1850 it was mainly watchmakers who built telegraphs. They had precision, fine mechanical knowledge and the necessary tools. Lorenz Bob, a major watchmaker from the Black Forest, provided pointer telegraphs for William Fardely’s railroad telegraphs along the Taunsbahn, and in Saxony, between 1844 and 1847. Telegraph lines opened in 1851 in the state of Baden, and Bob supplied Morse telegraphs like this, which he had already manufactured for export before 1850.