1/2 Mark Strausberg notgeld showing a battle

This notgeld is from Strausberg and has the value of 1/2 Mark. It shows a battle scene from 1402 with some knights, one of them on a horse. The inscription in German reads: 'Strausberg wird durch D.v. Quitzow im Jahre 1402 belagert und eingenommen' and translates as: 'Strausberg is besieged and taken by D. (ann. Dietrich) v. Quitzow in 1402.' 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.