Bunzlau's wartime Notgeld reflects the breakdown of central currency supply in Germany's final year of the First World War. Municipal authorities across Silesia were forced to commission local printers — in this case L. Fernbach, operating in the town itself — because Reichsbank coin and small-denomination notes had all but vanished from circulation, hoarded by a population that no longer trusted the war's trajectory.
The dual-signature format, with Richter and Dr. Koltzenburg signing for the Stadtgemeinde, was a deliberate legitimacy measure. Bunzlau remained a German administrative center until 1945, when it was transferred to Poland and renamed Bolesławiec.
Bunzlau's wartime Notgeld reflects the breakdown of central currency supply in Germany's final year of the First World War. Municipal authorities across Silesia were forced to commission local printers — in this case L. Fernbach, operating in the town itself — because Reichsbank coin and small-denomination notes had all but vanished from circulation, hoarded by a population that no longer trusted the war's trajectory.
The dual-signature format, with Richter and Dr. Koltzenburg signing for the Stadtgemeinde, was a deliberate legitimacy measure. Bunzlau remained a German administrative center until 1945, when it was transferred to Poland and renamed Bolesławiec.