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Notgeld, in English "Emergency money":
Special money issued primarily in Germany and Austria to deal
with economic crises situations
such as a shortage of small change, during or shortly after WWI, and lasted
until 1924. Some have been issued also in The Netherlands and France,
and I have seen Notgeld issued in Belgian cities. Most of notgeld are
made of paper, but other materials were also used, such as coins, porcelain,
cloth, silk, linen, aluminum foil, leather, ... Usually they were
only valid for a certain period; usually the expiration date is mentioned.
The production really got on the go when towns and villages started making
their own notgeld, reaching its peak in the early 1920s.
Any imaginary subject was used for the graphics, even some very distasteful
ones, but here are only some of the "known" Christmas ones.
Because
deviations may occur in the cutting, the dimensions are of the print
and not of the paper. |
Kahla,
1921, all 50 pfennig, expires December 31, 1921; showing the story of
birth of Jesus
Dim. : diagonal 12 x 12cm, back 11,9 x 11,9cm
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Schneeberg,
1921, all 50 pfennig, "Gültig bis
zum Aufruf der Stadtrat" (valid until call of the city council); the
Christmas theme being the "Bergmann und Engel" (miner and angel).
Dim.: front 9,2 x 6cm, back 9,1 x 5,2cm |
Neustadt, 50 Pfennig, 1 December 1918
Dim.:
8,9 x 5,5cm, back 9,1 x 5,7cm
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Sonnenberg, 50 Pfennig, 20 February 1920
Dim.: 7,7 x 5cm, back 7,7 x 4,9
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Langeln,
front and back, 2 x Pfennig 25, 50 and 75 but each with different front
grafics and titled "EIN WEIHNACHTSSPIEL" (a Christmas game), while
all have the pine tree on the back; valid until 31 December 1921;
Dimensions front & back: 8,4 x 5,6cm (5,5cm),
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Pössneck,
front and back, three different sizes:
25 Pfennig: 8,5 x 5,5cm, Kurrende:
(Kurrendensingen
or Kurrende Singers:
This comes from an old tradition in Germany when children, students or choristers,
from poor families went from home to home in their district singing hyms. They
were always boys and were given a few coins. They were called Kurrende Singers.
It seems it goes back to the Reformation (17th c.). The word would come from
the Latin “currere”, meaning walking or going.
They were dressed, and still are, in black capes and flat black hats.
Presently the custom has not disappeared, boys are no longer specifically from
poor families and girls are also participating. A boy’s choir
that maintains this tradition today is the Wuppertaler Kurrende, but they are
not the only ones. )
50 Pfennig: 9,4 x 6,1cm, Marktplatz (market place)
75 Pfennig: 10,3 x 6,7cm, Weihnachtsfeier (Christmas, and it looks like a
Christmas market) |
Lauscha April 1921, 50 Pfennig, front and back
Dim.: 9cm x 5,9cm
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MerryThe'sChristmasCollection