Catalog
100 Mark Karlsruhe PoW Camp
| Issuer | Inspektion der Kriegs-Gefangenenlager des 14. Armeekorps, Karlsruhe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black letterpress on yellow cloth, the face is dominated by the large diagonal Fraktur script legend 'Hundert Mark' flanked by wavy guilloche rules, with the numeral '100' in bold at lower left and a serial number in a ruled box at upper centre. Validity and issuing authority inscriptions appear in the lower right quadrant, with the disclaimer 'Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel' at the top and 'Gesetzlich geschützt' at the lower left margin. A decorative hatched border frames the entire note. |
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| Obverse lettering | Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel 100 Hundert Mark Gültig nur innerhalb des Lagers, sonst ohne jeden Wert. Karlsruhe i. B., 1. Oktober 1915. Inspektion der Kriegs-Gefangenenlager des 14. Armeekorps -:- Abrechnungsstelle Gesetzlich geschützt. (Translation: Not a public means of payment. One hundred mark. Valid only within the camp, otherwise without any value. Karlsruhe in Baden, October 1, 1915. Inspection of the Prisoner-of-War Camps of the 14th Army Corps. Settlement Office. Legally protected.) |
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| Comments |
Prisoner-of-war camp money issued under the authority of the Inspectorate of the 14th Army Corps covers a specific and often overlooked category of WWI material. The 14th Army Corps was headquartered in Karlsruhe, and its inspectorate administered camps across the Baden region — this note circulated exclusively within those compounds, preventing prisoners from accumulating Reichsmark currency that could fund escape attempts or be smuggled out.
The yellow cloth substrate is the distinguishing feature of the series. Fabric-based camp money was harder to counterfeit than paper and immediately identifiable as non-negotiable outside the wire.