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50 Pfennig Goethe Series - Gabelbach
| Issuer | City of Ilmenau (Thuringia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents a letterpress view of the stone watchtower atop the Kickelhahn mountain, constructed in 1855, flanked on each side by silhouetted profile portraits of Goethe. Two lines from Goethe's poem referencing the Kickelhahn are set in letterpress above and below the tower vignette, while the issuing authority inscription, validity clause, and facsimile signature of the Oberbürgermeister are arranged across the lower portion of the note. The printer's imprint appears at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Turm auf dem Kickelhahn M. Bechstein, Ilmenau, gez. Wie kehrt ich oft mit wechselndem Geschicke, erhabner Berg an deinen Fuß zurücke. NOTGELD DER STADT ILMENAU, 1921. Die Gültigkeit erlischt einen ~ Monat nach Aufruf. ~ Der Stadtgemeindevorstand (signature: Zachäus). Oberbürgermeister. WIEDEMANNSCHE DRUCKEREI A.-G. SAALFELD A/S. |
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| Comments |
Ilmenau holds a specific claim on Goethe that most German towns cannot fake: he visited repeatedly over decades, supervised the reopening of the local copper and silver mines in the 1780s as part of his official duties under Duke Carl August, and wrote extensively there. The 1921 Notgeld series leaned hard into that association, with the Gabelbach hunting lodge — a documented Goethe retreat in the nearby Thuringian Forest — anchoring this denomination.
Max Bechstein's designs for the series were executed by Wiedemannsche Druckerei AG in Saalfeld, a regional press that handled a significant volume of Thuringian Notgeld during the early 1920s inflation period. Collector demand for thematic Notgeld was already a known market by 1921; municipalities routinely issued more than needed for circulation.