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| Issuer | Gemeinde Hartkirchen (Municipality of Hartkirchen) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette shows a panoramic view of the village of Hartkirchen with its church tower and surrounding rural landscape, flanked on either side by figures of agricultural workers engaged in field labor. The denomination numeral '50' appears in large stylized lettering at left and right, with floral ornamental motifs at the upper corners. The issuer's name 'GEMEINDE HARTKIRCHEN' arches across the top in bold letterpress, with 'HELLER' inscribed in the upper left and right panels, and 'GUTSCHEIN' in large type along the lower portion. A text band at the bottom foot carries the validity clause and expiry date. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain light-toned paper reverse with a faint ghost underprint of the obverse design visible through the thin stock. The central text block, set in justified letterpress, carries the liability and redemption clause of the municipality, followed by an anti-counterfeiting warning. At the foot, the facsimile signatures of the Bürgermeister and a Gemeinderat member are printed in two columns, with their respective titles above. A decorative serrated border frames all four edges. |
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| Comments |
Hartkirchen is a small municipality on the south bank of the Danube in Upper Austria. This 50 Heller note is a Notgeld issue — the emergency municipal currency that proliferated across Austria and Germany after the First World War as small coin disappeared from circulation. The 1920 date reflects the period of acute small-change shortage that persisted well into the early republic years.
The print date of 30 April 1945 is the detail that demands attention. That is the final day of Hitler's life, and the last week of the war in Europe. Whatever printing run this represents, it was produced at the extreme edge of the Nazi collapse — suggesting either restruck archival stock or a local administrative act of remarkable timing.