Klaipėda post office

Coordinates: 55.712598 21.135170

Object address: Liepų str. 16, Klaipėda, Lithuania

Municipality: Klaipėda

The impressive red-brick building (Liepų str 16) remains one of the most beautiful architectural monuments of the city.
Trade and maritime city Klaipėda has been an important postal road point for a long time. In 1718 the stagecoach line functioned from Tilsit to Klaipėda, and a little later it functioned from Konigsberg to Klaipėda through the Curonian Spit. After five years the post line Klaipėda-Riga-Reval (Tallinn)-Sankt Petersburg appeared. The city was connected to the telegraph network. On 22 October 1888 in Klaipėda there was introduced the first phone. In 1810 J.G.Argelander‘s house in Liepų street (Alexander str.) was acquired by a merchant E.Rupelis, from whose descendants it was taken over by state in 1841. There was set up a National Council. In 1888 this historical building was demolished. Instead of it a new Post Office Palace was built (architect H.Schoede) and inaugurated in 1893 on 16 October. The opening ceremony of the luxurious building of Post Office Palace brought together the chief officials, merchants, post clerks. On this occasion there was issued and quite detailed festive publication „Denkschrift fuer Eroefnung des Posthauses Memel den 16. October 1893”.
Postal complex consists of 3 buildings: in the center – a two-storey post office with attics, on both sides of it – two one-storey buildings: in one of them there were located warehouses and stable, while the other is intended to store carriages.  
In this bulding, and so far the postal service is provided, and gorgeous interior of the hall survived until now. In Post Office tower an ancient carillon functions. It is one of only two of its kind in Lithuania the musical instruments, which became a symbol of the identity of Klaipėda. The biggest in Lithuania Klaipėda Carillon was installed in the Central Post‘s tower on 13 November 1987. It was an instrument, constructed and installed according to Peter Schilling‘s project by masters of Schilling bell foundry in Apolda (Germany).                           
The new Klaipėda Carillon was founded in 2006 in the Netherlands, at Royal Eijsbouts Bell-foundry. It consists of 48 new chromatically tuned bells, which range – four octaves. Diameter of the heaviest bell f1 is 1163 mm, and weight – 903 kg. Diameter of the lightest bell f5 is 182 mm, and weight – 10 kg. The total weight of the bells is about 5.095 kg. They were founded from high-quality bronze for bells, which composition ensures the required both low and high bells‘ frequency tone. Each bell in structure of its tones as well as in combination with other bells has qualitative sound and timbre. On 17 September 2006 the last concert of the old carillon took place. After then the bells were dismantled and installation work of a new carillon, contructed in firm „Royal Eijsbouts“ (the Netherlands), started. The new carillon in Klaipėda Old Post Office tower was installed on 11-12 December 2006; about week the tuning works continued in the presence of Dutch masters. For the first time Klaipedians heard sound of the new bells during the 2006 Christmas.
Klaipėda Carillon play carillonists Kęstutis Kačinskas ir Stasys Žilevičius. Concerts of bells tradicionally are held every Saturday and Sunday at midday in the courtyard of Clock Museum, which is located alongside.

Compiled in 2015

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