Catalog
1 Mark Lechfeld; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Kriegsgefangenenlager Lechfeld (Lechfeld Prisoner of War Camp) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on a green guilloche underprint with a scalloped decorative border and ornamental corner pieces. The camp title 'Kriegsgefangenenlager Lechfeld' runs along the top, with the denomination '1 Mark.' in large bold type at centre flanked by '1M.' value indicators on each side; the word 'Gutschein über' appears above the denomination. The date 'Lager Lechfeld, 15. November 1915' is printed at the foot, with the printer's imprint 'Himmer, Augsburg' below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain pink paper with a fine woven-pattern texture serving as the ground, bearing a single handwritten manuscript signature in dark ink at centre. Three cancellation holes are visible, one at top left, one at top right, and one at bottom centre. |
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| Comments |
Lechfeld was a military airfield and training camp in Bavaria, repurposed early in the war to hold prisoners. Camp scrip of this type was issued to prevent PoWs from accumulating Reichsmarks that could fund escape attempts — a deliberate policy applied across German internment facilities from 1914 onward. The currency was valid only within the wire.
J. P. Himmer of Augsburg, a well-established regional printer with roots in the mid-nineteenth century, handled several such camp issues for Bavarian facilities. The pink paper stock was not decorative — color differentiation between denominations was a basic anti-counterfeiting and sorting measure in a system with no other security features.