5 Mark Göttingen; PoW Camp

German prisoner-of-war camp currency issued at Göttingen during the First World War occupied a legal grey area from the start. Camp authorities across the Reich were permitted to issue their own scrip to prevent prisoners from accumulating Reichsmarks that could fund escape attempts or be passed to civilian contacts — the system was pragmatic and widespread, but each camp's notes were entirely local instruments, worthless beyond the wire.

J. C. König & Ebhardt of Hannover were commercial stationers and printers by trade, not a security printing house. That choice of printer, repeated across several camp issues, tells you something about the low security priority attached to these notes — forgery by prisoners was considered a minor risk compared to the administrative problem of uncontrolled currency.