in 1695, the head of the saxon post office, "oberpostmeister" ludwig wilhelm, proposed a systematic survey of the road from leipzig to dresden with wooden, roadside posts at regular intervals. this prompted prince elector augustus the strong, on 18 june 1695, to order ""that certain mileposts are to be erected"". he charged the "kondukteur" (building supervisor) heinrich niedhart with this task. the electoral saxon forestry superintendents were instructed to provide the wood, and the administrators of the electoral saxon districts were to ensure that the posts were erected.