Catalog
1 Mark Eschwege; P.O.W. Camp
| Issuer | Kommandantur des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers Eschwege |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| In circulation to | Yes |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed in black on a yellow guilloche underprint, the obverse carries the large cursive denomination 'Eine Mark' across the centre, with the numeral '1' at left. The disclaimer 'Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel' runs along the top border, while validity and issuing authority inscriptions appear at lower right. A violet handstamp has been applied over the face, and a serial number is printed vertically in the right margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel. 1 Eine Mark Gültig nur innerhalb des Lagers, sonst ohne jeden Wert. Eschwege, d.20. Novbr 1917. Kommandantur des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers. Gesetzlich geschützt (Translation: Not legal tender. 1 Mark. Valid only within the camp, otherwise worthless. Eschwege, November 20, 1917. Commandant's Office of the Officers' Prisoner-of-War Camp. Legally protected.) |
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| Comments |
Eschwege was a dedicated officers' prisoner-of-war camp — an Offizierslager — in Hesse-Nassau, and the Kommandantur issued its own internal currency precisely because the Hague Convention of 1907 prohibited forcing officers to work, leaving them with pay entitlements but no safe mechanism for spending. Camp scrip solved the accountability problem: it could not be smuggled out to fund escapes the way Reichsmarks could, and it kept genuine currency out of prisoner hands entirely.
WWI German camp issues of this type were printed in small runs by local or regional printers with no standardized format across camps, which makes attribution and survival rates genuinely difficult to track.