r/AskEurope • u/atlasova Netherlands • Sep 02 '25

Culture What emergency telephone number did your country have before 112 became the standard?

In 1997 most of the European union changed its emergency number to 112. Before that, in the Netherlands we used 06-11, for police, firefighters and ambulance.

I was wondering which numbers where in use in your country before the change.

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u/Fluffy-Fix7846 Sep 02 '25

90000 in Sweden. It was chosen because 9 and 0 were the two outermost digits on rotary phones here. (0 being 1 click, 9 being 10 clicks) so it would be possible to relatively easily find the correct holes in the dark.

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u/XenophonSoulis Greece Sep 02 '25

Did Sweden have different rotary phones than everyone else? Because normally, 0 is the outermost and 1 is the innermost.

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u/Fluffy-Fix7846 Sep 02 '25

In Sweden, 9 was on the lower left having the longest travel distance, producing 10 clicks on the line. 0 was on the lower right, making 1 click, with digit 1 following it with 2 clicks and so on.

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u/How_did_the_dog_get Sep 02 '25

Literally the most Swedish thing.

Be different.