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50 Pfennig Districts Series - Issue 5: Friedrichshain
| Issuer | Magistrat der Reichshauptstadt Berlin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | At left, a bold woodcut-style vignette of the heraldic bear of Berlin stands within a rectangular frame, set against a guilloche underprint of repeating '50' numerals. To the right, the denomination and issuing authority appear in ornate Gothic script, framed by a decorative blue border with floral corner motifs. A circular blind stamp impression is visible at the far right, with a serial number printed in the lower left margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents a detailed woodcut-style scene of the Stralauer Fischzug (Stralau fishing festival) circa 1825, with boats ferrying festively dressed figures across a river, a church and wooded shoreline visible in the background. The district number '5' and name 'Friedrichshain' appear in bold lettering within a decorative panel at the lower left, framed by a red ornamental border with interlocking geometric motifs. A calligraphic inscription at the right describes the historical scene. |
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| Comments |
Berlin's 1921 district Notgeld series assigned each of the city's administrative Bezirke their own 50 Pfennig note — a municipal fragmentation of currency that reflected both the chronic small-change shortage plaguing Germany at the time and the 1920 Greater Berlin Act, which had just amalgamated dozens of previously independent towns and rural communes into a single administrative structure. Friedrichshain, a densely working-class district in the east of the city, was among the newly absorbed units.
The watermarked paper is worth noting — relatively uncommon for municipal Notgeld of this type, where plain stock was the norm.