Catalog
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| Issuer | Kreiskommunalkasse des Kreises Wetzlar |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A pen-and-ink style vignette in sepia tones occupies the entire face of the note, presenting a landscape view of the ruins of Greifenstein castle perched on a rocky hillside, flanked by trees and shrubland. The medieval fortification is rendered with two surviving towers and partially collapsed curtain walls, conveying a Romantic aesthetic typical of German Notgeld imagery. The caption "Ruine Greifenstein" is lettered in the upper right corner. |
| Reverse lettering | Ruine Greifenstein |
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| Comments |
Wetzlar was one of hundreds of German administrative districts empowered to issue their own emergency currency during the hyperinflation crisis of 1923, when the Reichsmark's collapse outpaced the central government's ability to supply physical notes. The Kreiskommunalkasse — the district's municipal treasury — rather than the town itself, was the formal issuing authority, a distinction that mattered legally if redemption was ever demanded.
By mid-1923, a one-million mark denomination was already inadequate for daily transactions within weeks of printing. Scharfes Druckereien, a local press, produced the note in Wetzlar — a straightforward domestic job with no outside contractor involved.