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This presentation explores the postal history of the Siege of Przemyœl, one of the most devastating military sieges of World War I. During the winter of 1914-1915, the fortress city in Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was surrounded by Russian forces and cut off from the outside world. To maintain vital communications, the Austrian Air Force established a provisional airmail service, marking the first documented use of aircraft to carry civilian mail from a besieged fortress. Introduced only a few years after the world’s first official airmail flight in India in 1911, this pioneering operation holds a unique place in aerophilatelic history. Surviving cards, covers, and military correspondence offer valuable insights into early aviation, the logistical challenges of wartime communication, and the human experiences of those who endured the siege.

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