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50 Pfennig Goethe Series - Marktplatz
| Issuer | Ilmenau (Thuringia), City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The central vignette presents the Kickelhahn mountain watchtower (erected 1855, south of Ilmenau), flanked on either side by silhouette portrait medallions of Goethe rendered in a decorative letterpress composition drawn by Max Bechstein. A verse inscription by Goethe — beginning 'Wie kehrt ich oft mit wechselndem Geschicke' — runs across the note, accompanied by the issuing authority text, a validity clause, and the facsimile signature of the Oberbürgermeister. The printer's imprint of Wiedemannsche Druckerei AG, Saalfeld, appears in the lower margin. |
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| Reverse lettering | Marktplatz zu Ilmenau. RATHAUS. SCHLOSS. (left) Hier lernte Wilhelm Meister Mignon kennen und nahm sie zu sich. Mignon führt freiwillig den Eiertanz vor. (right) Vom Schlosse zu Ilmenau sah Goethe der Seiltänzergesellschaft zu, welcher Mignon angehörte. |
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| Comments |
Ilmenau's 1921 notgeld series is built around the town's well-documented connection to Goethe, who visited repeatedly over several decades and used the area's mines as the basis for early scientific work on geology and mineralogy. The choice of subject was deliberate civic positioning — dozens of Thuringian towns were issuing collector-targeted notgeld by 1921, and local committees understood that a defensible historical hook sold sets.
Max Bechstein's designs were executed by Wiedemannsche Druckerei AG in Saalfeld, a regional commercial printer whose notgeld output during this period was substantial but rarely distinguished. This series sits at the more carefully produced end of their work.