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2 Mark Eschwege; P.O.W. Camp
| Issuer | Kommandantur des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers Eschwege |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Currency | Mark (1873-1923) |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on an olive underprint, the note bears a wavy guilloche band across the centre with the large numeral '2' at left and the denomination 'Zwei Mark' in bold script. A circular handstamp of the Kommandantur appears at upper left, and a manuscript cancellation stroke crosses the face. The serial number and letter suffix appear in the right margin within a vertical border of cross ornaments. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kein öffentliches Zahlungsmittel. 2 Zwei Mark Gültig nur innerhalb des Lagers, sonst ohne jeden Wert. Eschwege, den 20. November 1917. Kommandantur des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers. Gesetzlich geschützt. (Translation: Not legal tender. 2 Mark. Valid only within the camp, otherwise worthless. Eschwege, November 20, 1917. Commandant's Office of the Officers' Prisoner-of-War Camp. Legally protected.) |
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| Comments |
Eschwege was a Prussian town in Hesse-Nassau that housed a dedicated officers' prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. The Kommandantur issued its own denominated scrip specifically because officers — under the Hague Conventions — could not be compelled to work, and were instead paid a monthly allowance against which they drew camp currency. The 2 Mark denomination sat at the practical middle of most canteen transactions.
Camp scrip of this type was never redeemable outside the wire, and most was destroyed or discarded at repatriation. Eschwege issues are sparsely documented in the major references, and surviving examples of any denomination are genuinely uncommon.