The 2nd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition 1982

This is a  postcard of the II Wystawa Filatelistyczna Białystok - Wilno (2nd Białystok-Vilnius Philatelic Exhibition) held in 1982 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the ZSRR/USSR (it is the polish abbreviation for: Związek Socjalistycznych Republik Radzieckich). It features a very nice illustration of Gediminas tower in Vilnius with a Commemorative cancel.

The first Lietuvos Vaikas issue of 1932

I have received several remarks by mail that I should post more stamps. Yes, I have promised that I would post more stamps and I haven't done it yet much, I admit it.. so here we go! I really like 1930's Lithuanian stamp designs and this set is among my favorite. It is the first "Lietuvos Vaikas" (Lithuanian child) series (there are several other sets) issued in july 23rd 1932 for the benefit of Lithuanian orphans (Michel 316-323, Scott 256-263). They are both perforated and imperforated (the last picture of the bloc of 4) issue in all 8 stamps, the first 3 stamps 102,000 copies printed, 4th and 5th stamp 62,000 copies printed and the last 3 stamps 50.000 copies. There are 4 kinds of designs, Kaunas central railway station, Nenumas river, Kaunas central post office and the cathedral of Vilnius.

Presidential Election 1993

 Panevėžys 1993

Ukmergė-4 1993 

Trakai 1993 

Today I'm posting some modern Lithuanian philately rarities. Those are anonymous registered mails used to send the ballots of the Prezidento rinkimai/Presidential election of 1993. This election was a historic event because it was the first presidential election after the restoration of independence in 1990.  Those covers were supposed to have been all destroyed after the election but somehow, some of them survived under an unknown circumstance. They are all anonymous, which is unlikely to happen to a regular registered mail, use specific no-franking postal stationery for the election and the back is sealed with postmarks. "rinkimai" stated in the upper left part means election. What is also interesting is that all 3 postmarks display dates differently. Panevėžys postmark displays day - month - year, in this case 9 02 93. Ukmergė-4 postmark shows full year - month - day 1993 2 9 and Trakai, last 2 digits of the year - month - day 9300 02 10. Who knows, maybe a century later, those covers could have some historical values...

Jurbarkas 1894

Юрбург / Yurburg (now Jurbarkas, Lithuania)

This is an Imperial Russian postal stationery sent in 1894 from Юрбург / Yurburg (now Jurbarkas, Lithuania), Ковен.Г.(Ковенская Губерния/Kovna Gubernia) to Berlin, Germany. You can see on the back that the sender have written "Georgenburg", it is the German name of Jurbarkas.

Vilnius 1924

This is a card sent on february 14th 1924 from Wilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) to Warszawa. The beginning of 1924 was the peak of the hyperinflation as you can see with this 120,000 Polish Marka franking on this simple card for inland destination. The new currency "złoty" was introduced on april 29th and has ended this hyperinflation.

Vilnius 1924

This is a real picture postcard sent in 1924 from the post office Wilno 6 (now Vilnius) to Omaha, Nebraska, USA during the Polish occupation period. The name Wilija written by the author on the river in the picture, is the Polish name of Neris.

Polish stamps 1920 - 1939 - 2

1931 to Rykonty (now Rykantai) 

1934 to the Military archive in Warsaw 

just in case people might wonder what was sent to the military archive..

1935 locally used 

The last 2 cards seem similar but they are not

Today I'm posting few postal stationeries sent from the post office Wilno 2. The first one is a card sent in 1931 to Rykonty (now Rykantai, Lithuania) just west of Wilno (now Vilnius), very close from the "border" of Lithuania and the area occupied by Poland. The second one is a card sent in 1934 to the Archiwum Wojskowe/Military Archive in Warszawa. By the way, the writer has a very unique handwritings.. Check it out! And the last one is actually an answer part of a reply stationery used in 1935 within Vilnius.

Tauragė 1917

This is one of my favorite postcard in my collection. It is a German military field post (Feldpost) card of a wooden railroad bridge south of Tauroggen (now Tauragė, Lithuania) across the Jūra river. The Germans are known for building railroads across Lithuania for military purpose during WWI. As a result, it contributed a lot to the Lithuanian railroad infrastructure including brigdes. Among them, Lyduvėnų tiltas/Lyduvėnai bridge (not the one shown on the postcard) along the line Tauragė-Radviliškis was the most famous, it was the highest bridge in Lithuania when it was built in 1916.

Berezwecz-Panevėžys Railway post 1914

Railway post ПоневѢж / Ponevezh (now Panevėžys, Lithuania) - Березвеч / Berezvech (now Беразьвечча / Berazvechcha, Belarus)

I have previously posted the Imperial Russian 1902 railway postmark No.201 Švenčionėliai-Panevėžys (you can find the link HERE), and this No.202 which I'm posting today, is the same line but in the opposite direction. The postmark is from 1914 between ПоневѢж / Ponevezh (now Panevėžys, Lithuania) and Березвеч / Berezvech (spelled Berezwecz in Polish, now Беразьвечча / Berazvechcha, Belarus). In 1905, the railway postal service has extended from Švenčionėliai to Berezwecz. Berezwecz was once famous for its magnificent Church which no longer exists. It was one of the finest example of Vilnius Baroque style architecture in the former Vilna Gubernia. Fortunately, an exact replica has been rebuilt in Białystok, Poland in 1996 and you can witness once again the glory of Berezwecz. You can find the Wikipedia link to Berezwecz with the picture of the church of the Resurrection in Białystok HERE (it is in Polish. It has not been translated in english yet).

Šiauliai 2011

A FDC of the 2011 issue of the religious architecture series cancelled in Šiauliai. It depicts the cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in Šiauliai. The original wooden church built in 1445 was remodeled in late gothic-renaissance mixed style in 1626 and acquired the present appearance.

Joniškis 1917

A German field post (Feldpost) card of Janiszky (spelled Janiszki in Polish, now Joniškis, Lithuania) sent in 1917 to Straßburg - Neudorf, Elsaß, Germany (now part of Strasbourg, France). Despite the fact that Joniškis was politically part of Lithuania, it has been considered topographically part of Kurland especially by many Baltic Germans.  The picture shows one lady looking towards the photographer, which makes the postcard very alive from my personal opinion.

Joniškis 1935

A domestic letter used within Joniškis in 1935. It is not so common considering the relatively small size of the town, with a population of little over 10000. Pre-war Joniškis is known to have a large percentage Jewish population.

150th Anniversary of the National Museum of Lithuania 2005

A complete sheet of the stamps commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Lietuvos Nacionalinis Muziejus/National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius issued on may 7th 2005. This is one my favorite sheet of Lithuanian stamp! The man in the center of the sheet is Eustachijus Tiškevičius (Eustachy Tyszkiewicz in Polish) who established The Museum of Antiquities in 1855 which later becomes the National Museum. According to the official website of the Lithuanian Post, 300,000 copies have been issued.

Lentvaris 1917

This is a WWI German field post (Feldpost) card of Landwarowo (now Lentvaris, Lithuania) railway station sent in 1917 to Ritheim (now spelled Rietheim), Germany. There is also a censorship cachet of Mülhausen (now Mulhouse, France).

Vilnius 1921

Nice blocs of 8 stamps of Litwa Środkowa/Central Lithuania definitive issue cancelled in 1921 at the post office Wilno 2/Vilnius 2.

Švenčionys 1916

This is a postcard of Swenzian/Święciany (now Švenčionys, Lithuania) sent in 1910 from the German Field post (Feldpost) station 210 located in Švenčionys itself, to Melz, Germany, a tiny village in Mecklenburg region. The Orthodox church shown on the picture is the famous Švenčionių Švč. Trejybės cerkvė/Holy Trinity Church of Švenčionys which still stands today.