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1 Pfennig Königstein; Officers PoW Camp
| Issuer | Offizier-Gefangenenlager Festung Königstein |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Mark (1873-1923) |
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| Obverse description | Typeset voucher on cream paper with a fine guilloche underprint in olive-grey. The denomination "Pfennig 1 Pfennig" is set in large blackletter type at centre, with the issuing authority in Gothic script along the upper arc. Date and validity clause appear in two lines below the denomination. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Offizier-Gefangenenlager Festung Königstein. ~ Gut für ~ Pfennig 1 Pfennig Königstein a. d. Elbe, den 1. April 1917. Diese Geldscheine gelten nur innerhalb des Gefangenenlagers Festung Königstein. |
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| Comments |
Königstein fortress, perched above the Elbe in Saxony, was used as an officers' prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War — a function consistent with its long history as a state prison. Under the Hague Conventions, captured officers could not be compelled to work, so camp authorities were obliged to maintain a functioning internal economy, which required small-denomination scrip for canteen and mess transactions. This 1 Pfennig note is among the lowest values in that series, suggesting the internal price structure was quite granular.
Production was almost certainly handled on-site or locally given the camp's relative isolation atop the sandstone plateau.