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5 Mark Carl von Ossietzky

Issuer Staatsbank der DDR
Year 1989
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Value 5 Mark (5 DDM)
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Obverse description The state emblem of the German Democratic Republic — comprising a hammer and compass encircled by a wreath of rye — occupies the central field. The mint mark 'A' for the Berlin Mint appears within the design. The circular legend reads 'DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK' along the upper periphery, with the denomination '5 MARK' and the date '1989' positioned in the lower portion of the field.
Obverse script Latin
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Additional information

Ossietzky was a pacifist journalist imprisoned by the Nazis in 1933 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1935 — a selection that enraged Hitler so completely that he subsequently banned all Germans from accepting Nobel Prizes. The East German government had commemorated him on a 1974 issue as well, finding obvious propaganda utility in a man persecuted by fascism, though his anti-militarist convictions sat uncomfortably with the DDR's own rearmament.

Ossietzky died in 1938 from tuberculosis contracted during his time in concentration camp custody, having never been permitted to leave Germany to collect his prize.

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