Monday Money: Notgeld #23

Back to the Notgeld.

This week I bring 4 specimens of Notgeld from Rothenburg. Rothenburg is the home the Schäfertanz Museum (Shepherd's Dance Museum). You will notice that the obverse of each specimen depicts a shepherd tending his flock with Rothenburg in the background. Also, take note that the obverse of each specimen has the signature of Herr Bürgermeister Lindermann.

All 4 pieces are of the 75 Pfennig denomination.

The reverse of the above specimen depicts a shepherd and shepherdess.


The above specimen depicts the Head Shepherd in his ceremonial garb on the reverse.


Both specimens, above and below, depict scenes from the Shepherd's Dance (Schäfertanz).



You may remember seeing Rothenburg in the cinema recently. It was used in portions of the film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Rothenburg was also the inspiration for the village in the 1940 Walt Disney movie Pinocchio.

© 2011 Barry T Horst

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Picture Monday, May 25, 2009: Notgeld #22

This week I take you to Tiefurt, Thuringia, Germany for an issue of Emergency Notgeld. This week I have 4 specimens; 1 - 25 Pfennig, 2 - 50 Pfennig, and 1 - 75 Pfennig examples. Each note has the profile of Duchess Anna Amalia on the obverse of each note. The reverse of each note has a famous landmark in the area. I hope you enjoy them.

© 2009 Barry T Horst


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Picture Monday, April 27, 2009; Notgeld #19

The Notgeld for this week is quite interesting. The firsy set is a single note from Tostedt. This note is intersting for the reason that it does not have a specific value. It does have the number "50" designated on it. However, I cannot find anything indicating whether it is Pfennigs or Marks. The reverse is also interesting. It depicts a train on th bottom portion and in the upper corners are signs which say "Bremen" and "Hamburg". Tostedt is between these towns and must have had a railway which connected the two. Tostedt is near Hamburg.



The next set is also quite different from others that I have shown. The set below are 75, 50, and 25 Pfennig denominations. One aspect of these notes is that I cannot determine which municipal authority issued them. On the top bar of the obverse of each note are the words "Ersatz wert zeichen", I think. This leads me to think that these were replacement notes of some sort. I looked a little closer and noticed that under the sailing vessel on the obverse of each note the wording below the vessel have been printed over with the words "So knapp das brot seefahrt ist not". I know that it is about bread being in tight supply or something close to that. Could it be that these notes were the really a commentary on the current times and the advent of hyperinflation??

© 2009 Barry T Horst


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Picture Monday, April 20, 2009; Notgeld #18

The notes for this week are from Bitterfeld. This is a collection of six notes, all 75 Pfennig. Each one has the same obverse and each reverse is different. As you can tell from the first picture, these notes are commemorating the electrical and related industries.

The two notes below represent the coal mining in the area and the bulk power plant. Obviously the plant used the abundant coal for the production of electricity.

In picture below (Bild 3) we see the production of current, most likely within the bulk power plant above. Next you see the note representing High Voltage Carriers or the power lines. The train lines probably represent the coal trains bringing the coal to the plant to make the electricity for the power lines to take to the good German people of the area.

Looks like industry used the power also. Picture 5 shows us Electro-Chemistry. Looks like fun. The final picture is of a locomotive and an electric train, most probably used for taking goods to market.

It is interesting to note the two lower corners of the notes. The lower left hand corner looks like fire, perhaps from coal. The lower right hand corner is lightning bolts representing electricity.

Also, below each picture on the notes themselves, there is an explanation of each picture which would be good to read if I could read German.

© 2009 Barry T Horst


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Picture Monday, April 13, 2009; Notgeld #17

I decided to add the "Notgeld"logo above to the weekly posts that deal with my Notgeld. This logo comes from the front of the display book that contains my collection. The book was apparently made in Karlsruhe, Germany in the early 1920's.

After making my post last week I found two more notes from Wittgensdorf. I have scanned them and posted them above. It turns out that the 25 Pfennig note above is the same one that I linked to last week and commented that it was different from my notes from Wittgensdorf. I stand corrected. It seems that I do have it now.

The three notes above are from Hamburg. They are all "Gutschein" or vouchers. No I did not scan the 50 Pfennig and 1 Mark notes crooked! They were printed crooked. I guess there was not a lot of quality control in the various print shops "back in the day."

© 2009 Barry T Horst


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Picture Monday, April 6, 2009; Notgeld #16

I have found an interesting group of notes today. The first note is from Wyk auf Fohr. It is the first note that I am aware of that indicates that it is a "certificate" valued at 1 Mark. I think that it says it is good at "Altdeutschen Keller", the Old German Cellar. I don't know if this was a local business or something else though.


The next four notes all indicate that they are "Gutschein" or vouchers. The first two are from Nordhausen; a 50 Pfennig and a 25 Pfennig examples.





The other two examples I have are also vouchers from Gemeinde Wittgensdorf. Again I have a 50 Pfennig and 25 Pfennig example. Click here to see a different 25 Pfennig note from the Community of Wittgensdorf.





Whenever I look through my collection I always feel like a kid that can't read looking at all the books in a library wondering what is in all of the books. I know there are untold stories on each individual note and yet many times I can't unlock them. I struggle with the font used on many of them, the printing quality, and of course the language. Through time I have picked up some of the language. Most of the time I use online translators as well as online resources that for history research. But I am always stymied when I can't read the font. Sometimes I use "trial and error" or just plain guessing and I get lucky and can translate and start to get the story. Sometimes not.

© 2009 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.Please visit the Giveaway of the Day near the bottom of the left sidebar for free software downloads daily.