Magdeburg notgeld

This notgeld is from Magdeburg and has the value of 50 Pfennig. It shows a man on a horse, he is wearing a crown and an impressive cape. (He might be a king?) His arm is stretched out to suggest he is holding the castle in the background. The inscription In German reads: 'Einst lebt' hier Doktor Eisenbart, kuriert die Leut' nach seiner Art' and translates as: 'Here once lived Dr Eisenbart, who cured the people with his Art'. It refers to Johann Andreas Eisenbarth (1663-1727) a German eye specialist and barber-surgeon. 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.