5 Pfennig - Zabern

Zabern — known today as Saverne in Alsace — was under German administration when this notgeld piece was struck, the city having been part of the Reich since the Franco-Prussian War cession of 1871. The zinc composition reflects wartime metal rationing; copper and nickel had been redirected to the military by 1916, forcing municipalities across Germany and occupied territories to issue emergency coinage in whatever base materials remained available. Alsace occupied a politically charged position throughout this period, and the Zabern Affair of 1913 — a military incident that briefly convulsed the Reichstag — had already made the town's name internationally recognized before the war began.