Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Mark Wiesa; Officer PoW Camp
| Issuer | Offizier-Gefangenen-Lager Wiesa bei Annaberg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Yes |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on a red guilloche underprint, with a decorative border of repeating red ornamental units framing the entire note. The Saxon coat of arms — a crowned oval shield with horizontal barry and diagonal bend — is set within an oval vignette at left, flanked by the denomination numeral '20' in each corner. The central text panel carries the camp designation and the redemption legend in Gothic script, with 'ZWANZIG MARK' in bold display type; two handwritten signatures appear below, attributed to the Postoffizier (Leutnant) at left and the Kommandant (Rittmeister) at right, dated Wiesa bei Annaberg, 1. Januar 1916, with the printer's imprint 'JOHANNES PÄSSLER, DRESDEN-N.' along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 20 OFFIZIER-GEFANGENEN-LAGER WIESA BEI ANNABERG Der Kriegsgefangene, Inhaber dieses Gutscheines, erhält bei seiner Entlassung nach der Heimat oder Ueberweisung in ein anderes Lager gegen Rückgabe den Betrag von ZWANZIG MARK von der Verwaltung für Gefangenengeld des Offizier-Gefangenenlagers Wiesa bei Annaberg ausbezahlt. Der Schein gilt nur innerhalb des Lagers. Postoffizier Leutnant Wiesa bei Annaberg, 1. Januar 1916. Kommandant Rittmeister JOHANNES PÄSSLER DRESDEN-N. (Translation: Officer prisoner of war camp Wiesa near Annaberg. The prisoner of war, holder of this voucher, receives upon his release to the homeland or transfer to another camp upon return, the amount of twenty mark paid by the administration for prisoner money of the officer prisoner of war camp Wiesa near Annaberg. The note is valid only inside the camp. Postal Officer. Lieutenant. Wiesa near Annaberg, January 1, 1916. Commandant. Cavalry Captain) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Wiesa was a small Saxon village near Annaberg-Buchholz, and the officer prisoner-of-war camp established there during the First World War was one of dozens of Offizierslager scattered across the German interior. Officer prisoners, under the Hague Conventions, could not be compelled to work and required a functioning internal economy — hence the camp scrip. The 20 Mark denomination is relatively high for camp currency, suggesting it was intended for larger transactions within the officers' mess or canteen rather than day-to-day small purchases.
Johannes Pässler of Dresden produced a number of similar camp issues for Saxon facilities during this period, working to tight wartime schedules with modest materials.