Heraldry. The coat of arms of Saldutiškis features a silver head of a deer, rising from the bottom of the shield in a blue background. Instead of antlers the deer has two silver pine branches with golden cones. Its author is the artist Juozas Galkus. The coat of arms was approved by the decree No. 1855 of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, signed on 30 July 2002.
History. The first time the name of Saldutiškis town was mentioned in historical sources was in 1795. The town is situated south-east of Utena, near the Vilnius-Utena railway line. In 1916–1918 Saldutiškis was the centre of the district, in 1920–1939 the centre of Linkmenys and in 1939–1950 — the centre of Saldutiškis volost.
The manor of Saldutiškis has been mentioned since the late 19th c. People began to settle here since 1899, after the construction of Panevėžys-Švenčionėliai railway line. Before the World War I the manor belonged to a military engineer Boleslovas Jaloveckis, who built the manor with its auxiliary buildings, lush park and gardens, as well as planted several sections of the forest with larches. At the end of 1907 his son Mečislovas founded Saldutiškis Farming Society, the members of which also included farmers from surrounding regions. After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence and upon the implementation of the land reform, the centre of the manor was transferred to the municipality and Labanoras Forest Directorate, while the building of the manor itself was given to the new parish. The first parson of the parish was St. Švėgžda, who took up the matters of the construction of the new church. The wooden part of the church with two towers was built on the high foundation of the manor’s stone granary.
The growth of the town increased in 1927 with the establishment of the institution of the forest use, because the narrow-gauge railway was very convenient for transporting wood. There was also a large sawmill, which employed about 60 permanent workers. It used to supply electricity not only to Saldutiškis, but also nearby villages. 1934 marked the construction of the Riflemen’s Union building, which used to host performances, lectures, etc. In 1938 the town square, streets and sidewalks were paved. In summer trains going from Saldutiškis railway station to Kaunas Sodybos Company also used to transport berries and mushrooms. At that time the town consisted of 50 buildings, there were also 9 Jewish families, engaged in trade and fishing.
In 1940 Saldutiškis had offices of the Forest Directorate and the institution of forest use, a primary school, a medical station, a pharmacy, an agricultural cooperative, a lodging house, a bakery, 8 shops, a lower school of agriculture, a border guard school, a library, etc. There were also various political and public organisations.
A short story of the origins of Dryžiai mound
People say that a long time ago in Saldutiškis there was a very cruel and mean lord, who used to use other people without measure. Once, when peasants were going home after their daily work, the lord stopped them and, unable to think of any work to give them, made them to build a hill using their hats. And so the peasants began to work.
They carried soil from various places and built a huge hill. The lord looked at it and became angry, saying that the hill is not the way he wanted it to be. As he was shaking his fist at the peasants, a huge storm came and evened the top of the hill, while the falling soil buried the lord alive…
