The township Viekšniai (Wekschni, Viekshni, Viekshnia) lies on the major railway route Liepaja (Libau, Libava) to Vilnius with a further link to Romni in the Ukraine, which was constructed in czarist times for large-scale transportation of agricultural and industrial products from the Ukraine to a Baltic Sea port.
During the German push into Žemaitija and Courland starting on April 27, 1915, Viekšniai was in the operational area of fast moving 6th Cav. Div. (6. Kavallerie-Division). It was soon looked at but entered in greater force on May 11. Despite Russian cavalry counterraids in the area German presence prevailed. No post office was opened in Viekšniai within the civilian Postgebiet Ob.-Ost system.
When the German Army retreated from Russia at the end of 1918, Soviet Red Army units (parts of 39th Regiment of so-called International Division) came to Viekšniai in mid-January 1919. At that time some Soviet postal offices were established in northern Lithuania but no such facility was set up in Viekšniai.
During the German volunteer Grenzschutz drive on Riga in the first half of 1919, Viekšniai was taken by two batallions of the German 1.Garde-Reserve–Division on March 5, 1919.
A Lithuanian post office in Viekšniai was opened on or about May 15, 1919, its first postmaster being 23-year old Aleksandras Pavilionis, an ex-attendee of a postal school in the czarist army. He was in charge until September 1 when he was transferred to Šiauliai and replaced by Vincas Vysockis. On September 5 the staff was augmented by Joana Putraitė. In 1920, as from July 31, Aleksandras Pavilionis was appointed to re-open, after a period of Polish occupation, the Lithuanian post office in Seinai where he formaly stayed on until August 24 before transfer to Kaunas.
The first Lithuanian stamps available at Viekšniai were values from the Fourth Berlin Issue. The post office had no postmarker of its own, so early cancelling was done by hand, indicating place and date.
Some months later the post office was supplied with an oblong rectangular cachet showing “Viekšniai” and a line for numbering. A regular-type postmarker was supplied in 1920 and the Viekšniai post office was cited meritorious for effective and profit-bearing service.
Known provisional markings:
Cancelling in manuscript:
24-V-1919 postcard addessed to Pagiriai (Ukmergė) via Šiauliai [colln. ?]
10-VI-1919 postcard to same address, via Ukmergė [colln. ?]
10-VII-1919 postcard to same address [colln. Doniela]
10-VIII-1919 postcard to same address [colln. Doniela]
23 / VI 19m single stamp, Berlin IV 30 sk. [colln. Bubnys]
30 -7 -19 single stamp, Berlin IV 15 sk. [colln. Jankauskas]Cancelling by a rectangular cachet:
12.19 reg. cover No. 266 to Germany, Berlin IV 60 x2 [colln. Bubnys]
undated, cover to Jena (Germany) with Berlin IV 60 sk. [formerly Matuzas]
undated, single stamp Berlin IV 30 sk. [colln. Liesis]
undated, single stamp Berlin IV 30 sk. [colln. Brazdeikis]
undated, single stamp Berlin IV 75 sk. [formerly Norton]