50 Pfennigs Battle Series

Langensalza's 1921 Notgeld series commemorates the Battle of Langensalza (27 June 1866), the last significant Hanoverian military action before Prussia absorbed the kingdom following Austria's defeat at Königgrätz. The Hanoverians actually won the tactical engagement — routing a Prussian detachment under General Flies — yet surrendered unconditionally two days later when news arrived that the broader war was already lost. Local pride in that pyrrhic victory ran deep enough to anchor an entire emergency currency series fifty-five years on.

A. Leusch's involvement places this among the more deliberately artistic Thuringian Notgeld issues of the period, when municipalities increasingly treated small-denomination paper as a collector revenue stream. The 107 x 75 mm format was generous by Notgeld standards, giving Leusch room to work.