1/2 Mark

Ströbeck is a village in the Harz region with a documented chess tradition stretching back to at least the 11th century — a curiosity well-known enough that the community leaned into it heavily when designing their Notgeld series. This ½ Mark piece is part of that 1921 chess-themed emergency money issue, printed by Himmer in Augsburg, a house that handled a substantial volume of the Notgeld boom and brought consistent lithographic quality to what were otherwise purely local fiscal instruments.

The chess connection was not decorative whimsy. Ströbeck's medieval playing tradition was formally recognized by Prussian authorities, and the village maintained an official chess school for centuries.