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!
5 Heller Kleinmünchen; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Kriegsgefangenenlager Kleinmünchen (Prisoner of War Camp Kleinmünchen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Crown (1892-1918) |
| 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 | Gutschein No [serial number] giltig nur für den Geldverkehr der Kriegsgefangenen innerhalb des Kriegsgefangenenlagers 5 HELLER KLEINMÜNCHEN am 1 Juli 1915. PROVIANTOFFIZIER. LAGERKOMMANDANT. (Translation: Voucher valid only for the monetary transactions of prisoners of war within the prisoner-of-war camp. Kleinmünchen on 1 July 1915. Provisions officer. Camp commandant.) |
| Reverse description | Identical in design to the obverse, printed in black on a light blue guilloche underprint with the same rosette vignettes, central denomination band, and manuscript signatures, but without a serial number at upper right. |
| 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 |
Kleinmünchen, a suburb of Linz, held Russian prisoners captured on the Eastern Front — the camp was operational by late 1914 and issued its own internal currency to prevent prisoners from accumulating spendable Austrian kronen. These camp notes functioned within the canteen system, restricting what prisoners could buy and from whom. The 5 Heller denomination sits at the low end of the Kleinmünchen series, consistent with small canteen purchases.
Locally produced rather than commercially printed, the note's survival rate is low. Camp scrip was rarely preserved by prisoners on repatriation, and Austrian camp administrators had no incentive to archive it.