Catalog
1 Mark Kriegsgefangenen-Lager
| Issuer | Kriegsgefangenen-Lager Bautzen |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kriegsgefangenen-Lager GUT FÜR EINE MARK Bautzen i. Sa. Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel. |
| Reverse description | Printed in black over a violet underprint of repeated Imperial German eagle vignettes arranged in a uniform grid across the entire field, with the denomination "MARK" appearing in bold at each corner. A central ornate cartouche framed by acanthus scrollwork encloses a multi-line redemption text, and a serial number is printed above the cartouche, flanked by two Imperial eagle cachets. |
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| Comments |
Bautzen was a Saxon fortress town whose POW camp processed prisoners from multiple fronts during the First World War. Camp scrip of this kind was a German military administrative necessity — prisoners were entitled under international convention to pay for canteen purchases, but issuing Reichsmark to enemy nationals inside a detention facility was an obvious security problem. Purpose-printed Lagergeld, valid only within the wire, was the practical solution adopted across dozens of German camps from 1914 onward.
Alexander Wiedl in Chemnitz printed for several Saxon camp authorities during the war. Most Bautzen issues survive only in small quantities, largely because redemption at the war's end was erratic and remaining stocks were typically burned rather than archived.