10 Heller Wartberg an der Krems

Wartberg an der Krems issued these Heller notes as part of the broader Notgeld wave that swept Austrian municipalities after the First World War left the central monetary system in ruins. The Gemeinde — a small market town on the Krems river in Upper Austria — was effectively forced to print its own small-denomination scrip because coinage had all but vanished from circulation, hoarded or melted down during years of wartime metal shortages.

Emil Prietzel in nearby Steyr was a regional job printer who handled Notgeld commissions for several Upper Austrian communities during this period. Josef Riedler's signature as municipal authority lends the note its official standing, thin as that standing was.