Catalog
2 Mark
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinderat Grünhain (City of Grünhain, Saxony) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in black on cream paper, the reverse centres on a large woodcut-style landscape vignette presenting a panoramic view of the Marktplatz zu Grünhain as it appeared in 1632, with half-timbered burgher houses at left, a church tower at right, wooded hills receding into the background, and billowing cloud formations above; the caption "Marktplatz zu Grünhain von 1632." is inscribed within the vignette at lower centre. Running continuously along all four margins in blackletter script is a historical verse referencing Colonel von Zwönitz and the destructive events of the year 1632. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Watermark |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Grünhain is a small Saxon mining town with a population that barely exceeded a few hundred in the early twentieth century — which makes the Stadtgemeinderat's decision to issue notgeld in 1917 less a municipal ambition than a wartime necessity. The German metal coinage shortage had become acute by mid-war, with copper and nickel redirected to munitions production, leaving small towns scrambling to cover everyday transactions.
The choice of Wiedemannsche Druckerei in Saalfeld — across the state border in Thuringia — was typical of smaller Saxon communities that lacked a local commercial printer capable of handling even modest security work. The watermarked paper was the minimum barrier against forgery deemed acceptable under the Reich's notgeld guidelines of that period.