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| Issuer | Stadt Wittenberg (City of Wittenberg) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette presents a bust-length portrait of Martin Luther after a woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder dated 1546, rendered in a crosshatched engraving style on a pale ochre ground within a ruled rectangular frame. Below the portrait, a caption inscription identifies the source; beneath it, a gold panel carries the denomination in bold Gothic lettering flanked by ornamental scrollwork and the series letter 'R'. A purple-toned decorative border frames the entire note, with vertical text running along both lateral margins. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | Ich wollte alle Künste, sonderlich die Musik, gern lehen im Dienste dessen, der sie gegeben u. geschaffen hat. Lutherstube K. B. V. Druck von Adolf Forker Leipzig. A. Weissner. |
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| Comments |
Wittenberg's 1922 Notgeld series leaned hard into its Luther associations — the town had been trading on the Reformation connection since the nineteenth century, and the inflationary crisis gave municipal issuers both the necessity and the creative license to produce collectible small-denomination notes rather than purely functional ones. Many such series were printed in deliberately limited runs, sold directly to collectors, and never meaningfully circulated. Adolf Forker in Leipzig handled a significant volume of Notgeld work during this period, a practical printer rather than a prestige house.
Weissner's design credit is unusual enough to survive in the literature, which is not always the case for Notgeld artists.