Lithuania’s National Museum has published an album of the first postcards from Kaunas, dug up and found in private and public collections.
"The oldest known postcard of Kaunas is a postcard with a picture of the Pažaislis Monastery in Kaunas, published by Stengel & Co., dated February 28, 1899,” says Vaidotas Ščiaponis. He has been collecting postcards depicting old Kaunas for several decades.
His oldest postcards are from the late 19th century when the city was still part of the Russian Empire. The postcards depict people and maps, while the earliest images were photographs of various objects around the city. Most of them were photographed by Vaclavas Zatorskis.
"We can get a general picture of what Kaunas looked like from the Nemunas Embankment, Town Hall Square, Laisvės Avenue, and on to the railway station. Walking along this path, we can see that there are buildings that have not survived,” says Ščiaponis.
His collection has become part of the National Museum's album Kaunas Atvirukuose (Kaunas in Postcards), which offers a glimpse into the city from 1899 to 1915. Dalia Keršytė, the compiler of the publication, says it is difficult to trace the oldest postcards, as their publication was not controlled in Tsarist Russia until 1902.
“When local publishers found out it was possible to publish pictures as postcards, a frenzy began at the end of the 19th century,” says Keršytė. “It was only in 1902 that the tsarist authorities decided to regulate their activity.”
According to the museum, the quality of the postcards depended on the publisher. The postcards of large companies operating in the Russian Empire, as well as those in Germany, were superior. Their print runs could range from 500 to 1,000 pieces.
“Stengel came and published postcards of all European cities, from north to south,” says Keršytė. “It was a big company, the biggest at the time. [...] I don't know whether they hired photographers themselves or bought the photographs on which they based the postcards.”
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