Austrian post offices in Crete

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This 5-centime overprint stamp was cancelled at Jerusalem
This 5-centime overprint stamp was cancelled at Jerusalem

Along with several other nations, the Austro-Hungarian Empire maintained its own post offices in Crete in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The three post offices, in Chania, Heraklion and Rethymno, operated from 1890 until 1914, replacing earlier Austrian Lloyd postal agencies and official Austrian postal agencies which operated in turn in these towns starting in 1837 and 1845 respectively.

These offices used Austrian stamps denominated or surcharged in various currencies (Lombardy-Venetian soldi, Turkish paras and piastres, and French centimes and francs) or, much more rarely, used regular unsurcharged Austrian stamps.

Many stamp collectors and catalogues have traditionally referred to just the French currency issues as "Austrian Post Offices in Crete", distinguishing them from the Turkish currency issues which have been referred to as "Austrian Post Offices in the Turkish Empire" or as "Austrian Levant". However, stamps in both currencies were in use both in the offices in Crete and in many other Austrian post offices within the Ottoman Empire so this distinction is misleading.

The French currency stamps were first issued in 1903 with the last set in 1908 in designs similar to the Austrian set commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Emperor's accession.

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