25 Mark Detlev v. Liliencron Gesellschaft

Altrahlstedt issued this note in 1922 as part of the Notgeld wave that flooded Germany during the hyperinflationary period — municipalities printing their own emergency currency because Reichsbank notes simply couldn't keep pace with demand. What sets this particular piece apart is the issuing authority's choice to commemorate Detlev von Liliencron, the German lyric poet who spent his later years in nearby Rahlstedt and died there in 1909. Naming a Notgeld series after a local literary figure rather than a civic landmark or patriotic symbol was an unusual editorial decision, and suggests the municipality was as interested in cultural prestige as emergency liquidity.

Otto Thämer's involvement places the design in competent hands — he contributed to several Hamburg-area Notgeld commissions during this period.