LITHUANIA UNDER THE RUSSIAN CZARS


LINKUVA

This card is sent from ЛИНКОВО (LINKOVO), the Russian indication. The Lithuanian name for this place in northern Lithuania is Linkuva.
The German name is Kinkau, the Polish name is Linków. It is a very little place, in 2005 -according Wikipedia -1.770 inhabitants.

Original print size of this image: 13,902 x 8,746 cm (is something more as the postal item).
This picture and all pictures below on this page, if not mentioned otherwise: scanned about 300 dpi. Then set right and cut out - noted the actual print size-, resized 25 % of this image and saved as jpg.


The postmark, resized 50 %, with the name ЛИНКОВО (LINKOVO) and indication of the government КОВ. - short for КОВНО (KOVNO or KOWNO).


Here below a detail of the map, not resized, 'Russische Ostsee-Provinzen' from from the encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversations-Lexicon', 6e Aufl., 1905-1909

Linkova, here Linkowo, near the northern border of government Kowno.
Something westward the railway-junction Mosheiki (Mažeikiai in Lithuanian) is located.



MARIJAMPOLĖ

This city in the southwest of Lithuania was -after the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) a part of the autonomous Kingdom of Poland within the Rusian Empire.

After 1860 in Russia were used the one-ring-postmarks with only cyrillic letters.
On this card from Mariampolė in Lithuania, we see also the one-ring-postmark (1885), and moreover the arrival-postmark of Riga:

МАРIАМПОЛЬ (Mariampol), in German and Polish Mariampol, in Lithuanian Marijampolė.
Postmark (resized 50 %).


Original print size of this image: 12,573 x 9,288 cm (is something more as the postal item).



On this card, sent from Mariampolė we see the 'cross-date' postmark with also mentioning the government: СУВАЛК.Г., the abbrevation for Suwalki Government

Original print size of this image: 14,563 x 9,229 cm (is something more as the postal item).



Postmark (resized 50%).

We see the logo of the Red Cross on the card. On the other side of the card: Grand Duchesses Tatiana, daughter of the czarina. The mother of czar Nicolas II, Marie-Feodorovna, was the official head of the Russian Red Cross. Czarina Alexandra and her two eldest daughters, Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, nursed wounded soldiers at a hospital in Tsarkoe Selo during World War I.





The inscription in the (Red Cross)logo above is: 'For the charity of the St. Eugeniya Community'.

Nursing in tsaristic time had no much structure and very little formal organization. The nurses of the 19th century were Sisters of Mercy, who operated within the communities of the Orthodox Church.
Also there were semi-religious communities, which were formed for the nursing of soldiers. 115 Communities in 1915 fell under the jurisdiction of the Red Cross. In Petrograd was established one of the greater comminities, the Comminity of St. Eugenia with 465 members.

The Sisters of Mercy and the St. Eugeniya Community of the Sisters of Mercy have issued a great lot of these charity-cards. The cards, issued from the end of the 19th century to the end of the Romanovs, can be sorted on the adress-side in types.
The address-side of this card in not divided in two. Cards with the address-side divided in two are issued in 1905 and later. Before this time a picture-card was only without message accepted with postcard-rate.

The name of the printer, Golike & Vil'borg, is mentioned along the border on the right (adress-side). Niet on this card, but on other cards like this we find on the adress-side also mentioned the address, Zvenigorodskaya 11 SPB (St. Petersburg).
The card is sent 31 januari 1904 to Nijmegen in the Netherlands (arrival 15 februari, but after 1900 we have to tell more 13 days by the -Julian-Russian date). The written text on the picture-side is Esperanto, written 30 december 1904, and in the text is also mentioned 'Regino Wilhelmina', queen of the Netherlands.

More about this kind of cards:·

  • Red Cross charity postcards from the Sisters of Mercy / by J.G. Moyes. - In: Rossica 1991 ; no. 117. - p. 17-26.
  • An article about Marie-Feodorovna you can find on internet: www.eurohistory.com/dagmar.html
  • Sisters of mercy during World War I (1914-1918) / by A.V. Posternak. - In 'Newsletter, september 2002' on internet, but only in the 'cache'-memory of Google, original issued by: www.rondtb.msk.ru



Here a map of the Suwalki Government with somewhere in the center Mariampolė.
The capital of this government Suwalki has also a Lithuanian indication Suvalkai and is now to find in the north-east corner of Poland.

Part of the map, not resized, 'Westrussland' (Western Russia) from the encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversations-Lexicon', 6e Aufl., 1905-1909. Kėdainiai, here Keidany, is located something north of Kowno/Kaunas.

Also from Mariampole:


Original print size of this image: 14,232 x 9,203 cm (is something more as the postal item).







The postmark of the card above is a single-ring postmark of the type 'crossed-date': the month in Roman numerals was a suggestion of the Universal Postal Union and introduced with the circular 13 of 5 april 1890.
In the postmark we see the indication of the government (Guberniya) Suwalki СУВАЛК.Г (SUVALK. G.). Postmark (resized: 50%).


Also Marijampolė has an other name in the Soviet period. This time not by a different transcription (from Polish or Lithuanian name), but now a total change of the name.
In 1944 the city was destroyed total, and in 1958 the ruines were cleared and the city rebuild.
The name changed in 1953 in КАПСУКАС Kapsukas in Lithuanian, named after Vincas (Mickevicius-)Kapsukas (1880-1935).
He was one of the organizers and leaders of the Lithuanian Communist Party. In 1918-1919 he was chairman of the first Lithuanian Soviet government. In 1920-1921 he did underground-work in Vilnius and leave on the end of 1921 to Moscow.
After 1990 Marijampolė get back its old name.
See: Soviet period: Statues



MAŽEIKIAI

This card is sent from МУРАВЕВО (MURAVEVO) and in the postmark you also the indication of the government КОВ. - short for КОВНО (KOVNO or KOWNO).
The German name is Moscheiken, the Polish name is Možejki. In Lithanian: Mažeikiai

Original print size of this image: 14,105 x 9,482 cm (is something more as the postal item).

The postmark, resized 50 %.

In the postmark we recognize МУРАВЬЕВО (MURAVEVO), the new name for МОЖЕИКИ(MOZHEIKI).
Michail Nikolajevitsj Muravjev was a governer-general of Lithuania and oppressed the uprisings of 1860. The Russians were very proud and give his name to the town MOZHEIKI.
He even had in Vilnius a museum and a statue, that you can see on the card below.

The card is sent to -handwritten in the first line- Ст[St], short for СТАНЦIЯ [STANTSIYA] (railway)station , Muravjevo. In the address: the НАЧАЛЬНИК СТ.(АНЦИИ), stationmaster of Muravjevo.
The card is send from ПСКВЪ [PSKOW] and in the text:
Humble I request the mister stationmaster the found packet of me sent to me to the next address in Pskow. If there are costs associated, then can it send cash on delivery.


This card is used during the German occupation as fieldpost in World War I, but at that time the monument was taken away by the Russians.
Literature about Muravjevo:



The railway-junction Mosheiki (Mažeikiai in Lithuanian) is located in north-west Lithuania, on this map near the northern border of the government Kowno/Kaunas.

Detail of the map, not resized, 'Russische Ostsee-Provinzen' from from the encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversations-Lexicon', 6e Aufl., 1905-1909.



About Mažeikiai, МУРАВЬЕВО, МОЖЕИКИ as railway junction: see railway post



MERKINĖ

Money-transfer from Vilnius to Merkinė.

Original print size of this image: 13,216 x 14,783 cm (is something more as the postal item).

The arrivalpostmark (rezized 50 %) of МЕРЕЧЬ (MEREČ), the Russian name for Merkinė.




On the formular we see at the top ПЕРЕВОДЪ ПО ПОЧЬ (PEREVOD PO POCHTE) = 'Transfer by post'.
An article in Rossica gives a translation of the regulations of money transfer in 1909 (see literature here below).
Under this text we see that the amount - here 175 - in ruble must filled in.
The amount must also be written a second time in full (article 229).
Right -above the stamps- is the text МЕСТО ДЛЯ ПАРСИЬ = 'Space for stamps'. According to the regulations the sender has to affix the stamp on the front-side on this marked place (article 227).


This part was for inter-postaal use, the left-part -here ripped off- was for the receiver. The sender get a receipt.

This formular is issued privately. This was allowed, but under strict conditions and regulations (paper etc., article 224), the imperial coat of arms was not allowed to print on privately issued formulars.

Rate here is 50 kopeke for a transfer of 175 Ruble and that is right.
In the postal regulations of 1909 chapter 7 refers to the transfer of money. In article 225 we find the rates:
From 1 to 25 ruble :cost 15 kop. -- from 25 to 100: 25 kop.
from 100 to 125: 40 kop. -- from 125 to 200: 50 kop (this money transfer).
from 200 to 225: 65 kop.
from 225 to 300: 75 kop. -- from 300 to 325: 90 kop.
from 325 to 400: 1 ruble -- from 425 to 500: 1 rub. 25 kop.
from 500 to 525: 1 rub. 40 kop. -- from 525 to 600: 1 rub. 50 kop.
from 600 to 625: 1 rub 65 kop. -- from 625 to 700: 1 rub. 75 kop.
from 700 to 725: 1 rub. 90 kop. -- from 725 to 800: 2 ruble
from 800 to 825: 2 rub. 15 kop. -- from 825 to 900: 2 rub. 25 kop.
from 900 to 925: 2 rub. 40 kop. -- from 925 to 1000: 2 rub. 50 kop.
from 1000 to 1025: 2 rub. 65 kop. -- from 1025 to 1100: 2 rub. 75 kop.
etc.
from 4925 to 5000 (maximum): 12 rub. 50 k.



This formular is a transfer by post, but -with additional charge- it was also possible transfer money with telegraph. For this were also pre-printed formulars. Further there were formulars, on which must be filled in 'post' or 'telegraph'.


The postmark (resized 50 %) of ВИЛЬНА (VILNA), the Russian name for Vilnius.
It is 'killer-postmark', special in use for the money-transfers with stamps of high value. Pins are even to see on the backside. Introduction of these postmarks: 16 oktober 1908 (circulaire 75) Registry label (resized 50%).


On 9 april 1910 (circulaire 22) the authorities came with a new order: in the office of payment the stamps on the documents had to be perforated even. So we can find stamps with the cancel of a baltic city with the perforation of Moscow. (see Het Baltische Gebied 2005 ; 47, and The perforation marks of Moscow / by Gary Coms, Dick Scheper and Noel Warr. - In Rossica 2004 ; no. 142. - p. 30-39).










This postmark ОПЛАЧЕНЪ (OPLACHEN) = 'Paid'.
After the amount was paid, the formular (mostly) is sent back to the sending post-office.
More about this subject:



NAUMIESTIS

In the postmark we read the Russian name ВЛАДИСЛАВОВЪ (VLADISLAVOV). In this postmark is also indicated the government: СУВ., the abbrevation for Suwalki Government. The Lithuanian name is Naumiestis, the German name is Neustadt. The Russian indication resembles the Polish indication Wladyslawow.


Original print size of this image: 14,766 x 12,353 cm (is something more as the postal item)
The postmark, resized 50%.


More information in Wikipedia. Since 1639 the place was named after Wladyslaw IV Wasa, but the name 'New town' -Naumiestis- 'was more popular. From 1900 the name was Naumiestis, 1934 the name chaged to Kudirkos Naumiestis.











On the other side: the arrival-postmark of МАРIАМПОЛЬ (Mariampol), the Lithuanian Marijampolė.
Also in this postmark is also indicated the government: СУВ., the abbrevation for Suwalki Government





PAGELAŽIAI

Sub-post station in a little place with a triangular dotted cancellation with truncated corners:

Digit 1425: from Pogelože (now Pagelažiai, belongs now to Ukmerge district North-East from Kaunas, but the railway connect these two points.
The numbers 623-1700 were introduced from october 1858.
JPG-scan (60%) and information sent by M. Lam.
The backside.





Triangular cancellation with truncated corner, with digit 1425, probably the only known (now) copy of such cancel.








Postmark: place of dispatch
??=Station
7 =September 1875 y(ear)



PALANGA




Original print size of this image: 14,334 x 9,203 cm (is something more as the postal item)

In the postmark we see the Russian name ПОЛАНГЕНЪ (POLANGEN)


Now this Lithuanian city is administratively part of the district Klaipė and the busiest seaside resort town of Lithuania.
The southern part of the city was up to 1919 a municipality in Eastern Prussia, named Nimmersatt. It was the most northern place of the German empire "Nimmersatt, wo das Reich sein Ende hat". Now the lithuanian name for this town-district is Nemirseta (swamp-place).
So Palanga was a borderplace of the Rusian Empire.

Here a detail of the map, not resized, 'Russische Ostsee-Provinzen' from from the encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversations-Lexicon', 6e Aufl., 1905-1909: immersatt and Polangen.

On internet - http://www.bork-on-line.de/Memel/misc/Memelfuehrer_1913/79.htm- you can read in "Führer durch Memel und Umgebung - 1913" (Guide for Memel and surroundings - 1913): "Einen ungleich erfreulicheren Eindruck macht P o l a n g e n. Es ist 25 km von Memel entfernt und nur längs der Chaussee Memel-Nimmersatt zu erreichen. In Nimmersatt gute Unterkunft im Kurhause. Polangen besitzt saubere, pfannengedeckte Häuser, ein Villenviertel für Badegäste, ein Kurhaus mit Theater und wohlgepflegtem Kurgarten, ein Progymnasium und eine neue Kirche. ........"
Polangen belonged to the Kurland government and after Wold War I it became a part of Latvia. When the definitive border was fixed, the city is transferred toLithuania (March 1921).
About this subject see the article: Litouwse krenten / Ruud van Wijnen. - In: Het Baltische Gebied 2011 ; 59. - p. 35-37.



PANĖVEŽYS

A letter from Panėvežys.The Russian name is ПОНЕВЬЖЪ [PONEVJEŽ] and this is indicated in the postmark. The letter is sent to М*#1048&31058АВА [MITAVA]. On the letter we see also the German indication Mitau for the Latvian Jelgava. Original print size of this image: 14,105 x 11,413 cm (is something more as the postal item)

Panėvežys is located in the middle of Lithuania, halfway between Vilnius and Riga. It has railway connections with the narrow gauge line. The line from НОВО-СВЕНЦЯНЫ (NOVO-SVENTSYANY), the Lithuanian Švenčionėliai, to ПОСТВЫ(POSTAVY, now in Russia), was the first narrow gauge (750 mm) railway in Lithuania.
From ПОСТВЫ(POSTAVY) the line continued to БЕРЕСВЕЧ (BERESWECH), now in Beylorussia.
THe line was finished in 1895, and two years later was started with the extension of the line -also narrow gauge- to the west via Utena and Anyksiai to ПОНЕВЬЖЪ (PONEVZH), in Lithuanian Panevėžys, finished 1899.
See further on this site railway post







Here a card with a double circle date-stamp.
Original print size of this image: 12,624 x 7,663 cm (is something more as the postal item)





PAŠVINTYS

Pre-philately.

On this letter we see the Polish influence: The writing is difficult to read, but some people has translated some Polish words:
Dziekan (=the title of Priest Eysziszkiemu (belongs to Eisiskiai (=place name), Priest (Probofzczowi) Nackiemu (name),
.......... ............ Prince (..iezu) Maciejewskiemu (name)
It is a report.
Sent to Naczy.
The postmark. JPG-scan (60%) and information, sent by M. Lam.



RASEINIAI

Card, sent from РОССIЕНЫ (ROSSIENY), in the government -see abbreviation in the postmark- КОВНО (Kovno). The Lithuanian name is Raseiniai. The Polish name is Rosienie and I suppose that the Russian indication is derived from the Polish. In German is the name Raseinen. Original print size of this image: 14,266 x 9,355 cm (is something more as the postal item).
This picture and all pictures below on this page, if not mentioned otherwise: scanned about 300 dpi. Then set right and cut out - noted the actual print size-, resized 25 % of this image and saved as jpg.


From 1801 to 1843, the administrative district was in the Vilna Governorate, and from 1843 on it became part of the Kovno Governorate. About further history: see: Wikipedia The postmark (resized) and the -correct- rate of 3 kop.



With a nice picture on the other side.
The card is sent, 23-2-1914 to a Polish military man, Kazimir Spalovski,
company (?) 155 n., Kubinski Regiment, Sarykamysj (=place), in Transkaukasie, Prov. Kars





Here a detail of the map, not resized, 'Russische Ostsee-Provinzen' from from the encyclopedia 'Meyers Konversations-Lexicon', 6e Aufl., 1905-1909.



ROKIŠKIS

This registered cover is sent from РАКИШКИ (RAKISHKI), the Lithuanian Rokiškis.

Original print size of this image: 13,699 x 11,820 cm (is something more as the postal item).
The postmark, resized 50 %, with also the indication for the Government Kowno (Kaunas):



On the other side there is also the arrival-postmark, resized 50 %, of ВИЛКОМИРЪ (WILKOMIR), the Lithuanian name is Ukmergė.