Property number plate

The enamelled plaque was used as part of the house numbering system along the street. The oldest house numbers date back to modern times. In 1512, nearly a dozen dwellings were numbered on the Pont Notre-Dame in Paris; however, at that time, numbering was used solely to determine the ownership of property in the city. House numbers were not introduced until the 18th century – in the suburbs of Paris between 1724 and 1728, in Prague in 1727, in Madrid in 1750, and in London from 1762 to 1765. One of the last major cities to implement a house numbering system was Berlin – the city did that only in 1799. The scheme was primarily an official means of expanding state control over citizens. Issues such as the quartering of the army, fighting the phenomenon of begging, as well as tax and insurance matters were among other causes for introducing said systems. Despite opposition from local communities, the building numbering system eventually took hold and by the end of the 18th century house numbers for postal addresses were in common use.

Anna Lew-Machniak