Lonza-Werke was a Swiss-founded electrochemical company that established operations in Waldshut specifically to exploit cheap hydroelectric power from the Rhine — the German side of the river gave access to industrial electricity at a scale unavailable further inland. During the First World War, municipal and corporate notgeld flooded Germany as the Imperial government's wartime metal requisitions stripped copper and nickel from circulation. Zinc was what remained, and factory-issued scrip like this filled wage packets and company canteens when Reichsbank coin simply wasn't there to be had.
Lonza-Werke was a Swiss-founded electrochemical company that established operations in Waldshut specifically to exploit cheap hydroelectric power from the Rhine — the German side of the river gave access to industrial electricity at a scale unavailable further inland. During the First World War, municipal and corporate notgeld flooded Germany as the Imperial government's wartime metal requisitions stripped copper and nickel from circulation. Zinc was what remained, and factory-issued scrip like this filled wage packets and company canteens when Reichsbank coin simply wasn't there to be had.