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You are here: Home / Provisional Postmarks / Mosėdis (also Mosėdys)

Mosėdis (also Mosėdys)

October 1, 2015 By Vytautas Doniela

Mosėdis is a township in northwestern Lithuania (Žemaitija), 12 km south of Skuodas and half-way to Salantai.  The locality seems to have had no postal facility in czarist times, as it does not appear in Harry von Hofmann’s listing in Baltische Postorte 1632 – 1917/8.

During the German push into Žemaitija and Courland which started on April 27, 1915, Mosėdis may have soon been visited by cavalry scouts of German 6. Kavallerie-Division. Then the locality came within the operations area of the 7. Kavallerie-Brigade which, starting north of Memel on May 4 hurried through Salantai, Mosėdis and Skuodas to take the sea port of Libau/Liepaja. The strategically important port was taken by 3 a.m. on May 8, 1915.

There was no postal facility in Mosėdis during the German occupation but permissible mail could be handed in at the local Mosėdis (Masiady) German Gendarmerie-Station. Mail was then forwarded to the Ob.Ost post office at Telšiai (Telsze). This practice is exemplified by a postcard addressed to a local prisoner-of-war in Germany, which was written in German as prescribed, by a helpful parish priest on behalf of the relatives.

LT-1918-Mosedis-POW WWI

A Lithuanian postal facility in Mosėdis – at first an agentūra – is listed as operative by 1922 but was probably opened in 1921 as urged by the local valsčius committee. So far, no further details are known about early staff. Its initial stamp stock consisted mainly of the Sėjėjas Issue.

At the start, in the absence of a regular postmarker, a makeshift two-line canceller was used, indicating place and date.

LT-1921 Mosedis provisional postmark

The first formal postmarker was supplied within a year or two and carried the spelling MOSĖDYS and its status as P.A.

LT-1925-Mosedis-PA

By ca. 1926 its status was raised to Post Office and, later, the spelling was altered more properly to MOSĖDIS.

Known provisional markings:

Cancelling by provisional two-liner:
[1921 ?], single, Kaunas Coloured perf. 20 [colln. Brazdeikis]

Filed Under: Provisional Postmarks

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