Markt Berchtesgaden notgeld

This notgeld is from Markt Berchtesgaden and has the value of 1 Mark. It shows a man and a woman in an idyllic-looking landscape, he has picked plowers for her and is holding a pipe in his left hand, the lady has a basket on her right arm and an umbrella on the right. In the background you can see a forest and the mountains. The inscription in German reads: 'Berchtesgadner Sonntagsstaat. Vor 100 Jahren' and translates as: 'Bertechgaden Sunday state.100 years ago.' This is one of sixty notgeld or 'emergency money' banknotes in the reference collection of packaging material which belonged to the designer Charles Hasler. Notgeld were produced by German towns, villages and municipalities from the end of the First World War until the mid 1920s, when the state bank (the Reichsbank), struggled with wartime metal shortages and post- war hyperinflation. The highly decorative notes soon became collectors items - and still remain to this day. They are double-sided and printed with their monetary value, information about the village, town or province of issue and some colourful illustration.