Šančiai is a southern suburb of Kaunas. During the late czarist period, extensive military installations rendered Šančiai an important component of the fortress of Kaunas. The fortress was conclusively captured by German Tenth Army on August 18, 1915.
During the German withdrawal from Russia at the end of 1918, Šančiai as part of Kaunas was retained by German rearguard formations, and its old military facilities were put to use to accommodate the headquarters and various units of the volunteer border guards, the Grenzschutz Ost.
In the czarist period, Šančiai had its own post office (Shantsy) as distinct from Kaunas, but no such separation was retained during the German occupation, so that the civilian Postgebiet Ob.-Ost post office Kowno, as well as stationary Feldpoststation 209, covered the Šančiai (Schantzy) area as well. In the first half of 1919 these duties were performed by the Grenzschutz post office Frw. Feldpost 728.
A mandate to establish a Lithuanian post office at Šančiai was given, as from from July 19, 1919, to Edvardas Lesevičius who had been postmaster at Virbalis. On December 1, 1919 he was replaced as postmaster by Boleslovas Gylys who had been in charge at Kaišiadoriai.
Šančiai was supplied with Fourth Berlin Issue followed by Kaunas Coloured and Sėjėjas Issues etc. In the absence of a postmarker, for cancelling Šančiai made use of a standard boxed cachet, though earlier practice may have been pen-cancelling.
By mid-1920 Šančiai was provided with a standard calendar-type postmarker. Despite the subsequent establishing of additional post offices within the Kaunas metropolitan area, and their renaming and renumbering which applied to Šančiai as well, the original first postmarker of Šančiai enjoyed a long life and was still applied at least as late as 1929.
Known provisional markings:
Cancelling by boxed cachet:
No date single, Berlin IV 10 [colln. Liesis]
No date single, Berlin IV 30 [colln. Jankauskas]
No date single, Berlin IV 30 [formerly Matuzas]
No date single, Berlin IV 30 [colln.? ebay]
No date single, Berlin IV 15 [formerly Norton]
31 / XII [1919] as rds on Money Order [colln. Doniela]