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500 Mark Stadtsparkasse
| Issuer | Stadtsparkasse Bielefeld |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922-1923 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Mark |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette by Schreiber (1922) executed in bold woodcut style shows a large semi-nude female figure clutching multiple money bags to her breast, surrounded by grotesque, leering faces; the composition is framed by red and blue chevron-patterned side panels bearing the denomination '500' and repeated 'Durkopp' manufacturer's marks in blue cartouches. The header carries the issuer's name in Gothic script above a subtitle line in Roman capitals, and the lower portion of the central vignette bears an inset banner inscribed with inflated sum figures and the motto 'DICH LIEBEN WIR BÖRSE VIELMEHR ALS DIE VERSE', attributed to Matthew chapter 23 verse 17. Dated 'BIELEFELD 21 OKT. 22', with a manuscript signature of the Residenz Bielefeld representative at lower left and a redemption notice at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 2. ich hatte einst ein schönes Vaterland! Wer wollte noch mit Stolz von Deutschland sprechen. Der Gram will mir das Herz die Adern brechen. Ich lehn der grauen Kopf an fremde Wand, fass meines Kindes hand. Wir hatten einst ein schönes Vaterland! Streben lasst uns, immerzu streben, stärker und reiner, Jede Minute, die wir leben, fällt draussen einer. Jede Minute die wir nicht nutzen wird uns zum Kläger, Dankbar denkt derer, die uns beschützen als Bannerträger. Wenn die Menschen aller Sorten tanzen um die goldnen Kälber, halte fest du hast am Ende doch vom Leben nur dich selber (Translation: 2. I once had a beautiful fatherland! Who would still speak of Germany with pride? Grief wants to break my heart and veins. I lean my grey head against a foreign wall and take my child's hand. We once had a beautiful fatherland! Let us strive, always strive, stronger and purer — every minute that we live, someone falls outside. Every minute we do not use will become our accuser; think gratefully of those who protect us as standard-bearers. When people of all kinds dance around the golden calves, hold fast — in the end you have only yourself from life.) |
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| Comments |
Bielefeld's Stadtsparkasse is one of the few notgeld issuers to have produced fabric-based currency at scale, a decision driven by a linen and textile industry already present in the city rather than any shortage of paper. The E. Gundlach firm, a local printing house, handled production — keeping the entire operation within the city's own industrial network, which was unusual even by the experimental standards of German emergency currency in this period.
Silk notes from this series are among the more physically durable survivors of the inflation notgeld wave, though the weave structure makes ink adhesion inconsistent across examples.