![In the postal agreement with Austria it was now the Swiss Confederation, and not the cantons, that was responsible for the ‘transmission of correspondence’. Illustration by Marco Heer.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titelbild-5-300x225.jpg)
Tra la la, the post is here…
Switzerland’s first international treaty was signed with Austria in July 1849. It was an agreement on the regulation of postal relations.
![Postal agreement between Switzerland and Austria, 1849.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/titelblatt-postvertrag-223x300.jpg)
![Article 6 regulated who had to frank items, and how.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/postvertrag-taxen-190x300.jpg)
![Portrait of Benedikt La Roche, around 1860.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/la-roche-227x300.jpg)
![Post office sign of the Swiss Federal Post Office in Geneva, 1849.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/postschild-genf-300x128.jpg)
![The postal rates agreed made Austria’s Minister for Finance furious. He felt Switzerland was getting a much better deal.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/taxen-178x300.jpg)
![Federal Councillor Wilhelm Mathias Naeff was the superior of Postmaster General Benedikt La Roche.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/bundesrat-naeff-191x300.jpg)
The first time…
There’s always a first time. In this series, we will be looking at historic Swiss firsts. The topics covered are very diverse: from the first zebra crossing to the first ever popular initiative. The articles have been produced in cooperation with the Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv (Swiss Federal Archives).