Šilutė 1920

This is a cover sent in 1920 from Heydekrug (now Šilutė, Lithuania), Memelgebiet to Hamburg, Germany. Germania overprinted stamps of Memelgebiet may not have extremely high catalog value but somehow it is not that easy to find on used covers. It is probably because it is hidden by many collectors. In both Michel and Scott, these Germania overprints are listed first but actually they are not. The French Semeuse overprints were issued on July 7th 1920 while these Germanias were issued on August 1st.  I imagine they did it so it would look more logical in a historical perspective going on the order of the administrators of the land.

Šiauliai 1973

Unfortunately postally unused but still interesting set of postcards of Šiauliai during the Soviet rule. Published by Mintis in Vilnius in 1973.

K. Didžiulis Polytechnic school

Station square

Central bus station

by the lake Talša

All descriptions are according to the information on the back of the postacard.

Cancellations of Lit.SSR - 09 Soviet Occupation 1941

Here is a brighter close up of the Таураге/Tauragė postmark

Going through boxes of thousands of cheap stamps, you don't expect that much normally.  But here is  my lucky day and I would like to show you! Low quality damaged commemorative stamps of Soviet Union without much catalog value. What's so lucky about it? Well it's the postmark (as usual of course). The left stamp has a postmark of Таураге / Tauragė and right one, Укмерге / Ukmergė dated 1941, which means it's the first Soviet annexation before the German invasion in 1941. The postmarks of regional Lithuanian towns during this period are scarce comparing to Latvian SSR or Estonian SSR.

Saugai 1931

Today I'm posting another ex-Memelland cover. This one has been sent in 1931 from Saugai (former Saugen, Memelgebiet) to Frankfurt a.M, Germany. Saugai appears to be called Saugos in modern Lithuania. The name changed several times in the course of history, we see in old German documents the name Matz Mautrim or Matzmantrum (Mazmantrum) through out the 17th century and then suddenly turns out to Schugen from the 18th, but it's probably because it was always called Sauga by the local people.

Švenčionys 1938

Arrival cancel of Wilno on the back

This is a registered cover sent in 1938 from Święciany (now Švenčionys, Lithuania) to Wilno (now Vilnius) during the Polish occupation period. It has been addressed to urzędu wojewódzkiego (Voivodeship admistration office) which in this case, it is the Wilno voivodeship (Województwo Wileńskie in Polish). Wydział Społeczno Polityczny is the department of social policy. The sender's address is not in Święciany but in Ustroń, a village in Żukojnie municipality which is part of Powiat Święciański (Švenčionys county) but this part the former county is now in Belarus.

Skrandžiai 1931

A happy new year to all visitors!
I'm starting this year's first post with a cover sent from Skrandžiai (former Matzwöhlen, Memelgebiet) in 1931 to Frankfurt a. M., Germany. Skrandžiai sounds to me kinda strange because "Skrandis" means stomach in english, haha... Anyway, Not only Matzwöhlen is one of the "hard to get" Memel postmark but from my experience, I get the feeling that Skrandžiai during the first Lithuanian republic is even harder to get (or am I wrong?). The village does not seem to exist anymore, if my information is correct, there is a huge pond at the site where the Skrandžiai used to exist just few kilometers outside Klaipėda's modern city limit. I don't know if the site is still called Skrandžiai nowdays but it looks like it is part of the administration of  the village of Budelkiemis.

Kuliai 1914

Merry Christmas to everyone!
Today I'm posting a postcard sent in 1914 from Кули / Kuli (now Kuliai, Lithuania). Kuli also appears in its Polish name "Kule" in many of the records during the Imperial Russian time as well. The illustration of the card itself has nothing to do with Lithuania (a bridge in a park in Yelagin Island in St. Petersburg)  but it has been written and sent from a certain Grigory Kissel in Kuliai to Lüneburg, Germany. The alphabet "Ков" right after the name of the town in the postmark is an abbreviation of Ковенская Губерния / Kovenskaya Guberniya meaning Kovna (Kowno in Polish) Gubernia which Kuliai was part of at that time. It is interesting that there is some kind of business seal of G. Kissel on the back. The used stamp is another new addition of Russian stamp in my collection, one of the series commemorating the 300 years of the Romanov Dynasty issued in 1913, 2 Kopecks with a portrait of Tsar Alexander II.

Wishing you a happy New Year!

Recent Acquisitions

Lately I haven't been able to have enough time to neither acquire new covers nor time for posting threads... However, here are some stamps I have found recently in various sources.

Memel Local issue
Postmark Memel 25.03.1939

Not new to this blog but another copy of Fuhrer's 50th anniversary
 with an illustration of the Municipal theater in Memel

Central Lithuania (I personally prefer to translate it "Middle Lithuania")
Postmark Troki (now Trakai, Lithuania) 7.1922

Вилыкомıр/Vilkomir (now Ukmergė, Lithuania) 15.IV.190?