ESTONIA AS PART OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA


In 1709 Tsar Peter the Great defeated the Swedes and Russian troops invaded Estonia and Livonia. With the surrender of Tallinn in 1710 the postal history of Estonia is part of the postal history of Imperial Russia. The peace of Nystad (1721) assigns Livonia and Estonia to Russia. The northern part of present Estonia became the Russian government Estonia with capital Reval (Tallinn). The southern part of present Estonia became the northern part of the Russian government Livonia with capital Riga.
In the Baedeker guide Russia (edition 1914) is descibed Western Russia (Baltic Provinces): "The inhabitants of Livonia are (as in Courland) Letts, with some Esthonians in the N. part of it..."(p. 32)

Route 12 in this Baedeker is From Riga to Reval a. By railway via Walk and Dorpat. In the description of Walk (p. 68): "The train now leaves the Lettisch part of Livonia for the Esthonian, ..".
Also now Walk is Latvian place on the northers border with Estonia. Valga is the same place on the southern border of Estonia. In 1920 the city Wak is separated in Latvian Walk and Estonian Valga. On December 21 2007 all border-crossing points are removed (with the Schengen-treaty).



KRAG MACHINE CANCELS

In the handbook EESTI the machine cancels (type 8) are divided in:

  • Type 8A: double circle date-stamps with 8 straight lines
  • Type 8B: double cicle date-stamps without lines



TALLINN

Original print size of this image: 14,080 x 9,152 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 %.

About 1905 the Krag Maskin Fabrik in Oslo constructed a cancellation-machine. `With this machine it was possible to cancel 600 items in 1 minute.The letters and cards moved along the cancellation-cylinder.
The circumference of this rotating printing cylinder was 157 mm, with an outside-ring divided in four parts: two cancellations and two frames ('flags') (lines, etc.). The distance between two similar points of the postmark is thus always 157/2 = about 78 mm.
An rotating inkt-cylinder provided a constant inkting
After the introduction in Russia (1906?) the machine were used in the great cities (1907-1908).All cancellations were double-ring postmarks.



TARTU

The machine-cancel of ЮРЬЕВЪ (YUREW), in het Ests Tartu, en in het Duits Dorpat, Derpt of Dörpt.


Original print size of this image: 14,207 x 9,254 cm (is something more as the postal item)


The postmark, resized 50 %.

More:
about the KRAG-machinecancels of Riga
about the KRAG-machinecancels of other places in tsaristic Russia