Catalog
50 Pfennigs Lechfeld; PoW Camp
| Issuer | Kriegsgefangenenlager Lechfeld (Prisoner of War Camp Lechfeld) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Obverse description | Red card stock with black letterpress text arranged on a plain red ground framed by a simple rectangular border with ornamental corner rosettes. The denomination numeral "50" appears at left and right margins, with a large red underprint "50" centered behind the main text. The issuing authority, voucher designation, and date are printed in Gothic script across the face, with the printer's imprint at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Kriegsgefangenenlager Lechfeld. Gutschein über 50 fünfzig Pfennige. Lager Lechfeld, 15. November 1915. Himmer, Augsburg (Translation: Prisoner of war camp Lechfeld. Voucher for fifty pfennigs. Lechfeld Camp, November 15, 1915) |
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| Comments |
Lechfeld was a military airfield and training installation south of Augsburg, repurposed early in the war as a prisoner-of-war camp. The camp's internal currency — printed locally by Himmer in Augsburg, a firm with roots going back to 1842 — was a practical tool for controlling what prisoners could acquire and where they could spend it, keeping their purchasing power strictly within the camp economy.
Red paper was the deliberate choice for this denomination, allowing guards and administrators to distinguish notes at a glance without reading the figures. Himmer handled a number of similar commission jobs for Bavarian military installations during 1914–18.