10 Mark Karlsruhe PoW Camp

Issued by the inspection authority overseeing prisoner-of-war camps under the XIV Army Corps, this cloth token circulated as internal camp currency among prisoners held in the Karlsruhe district during the First World War. Germany's use of dedicated camp money was partly administrative — it prevented prisoners from accumulating Reichsmark that could fund escape attempts — and partly a response to pressure from the International Red Cross, which monitored camp conditions with increasing scrutiny from 1915 onward.

Green cloth was not uncommon for this type of scrip; it was cheap, locally sourceable, and sufficiently distinct from official currency to satisfy military regulations.