Scary Banknotes for Halloween – German Notgeld

October in Germany can be very fun. There is Oktoberfest, harvest festivals and Festivals of Witches. Remember Germany is the home of Hansel and Gretel which dealt with a story of a witch baking children for her food. Germany has had a culture that likes a good scare and sometimes uses death in its art. Germany is even the origin of the first horror movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). It is a silent classic that still scares me. Read along to see how the German Notgeld fits into the culture.

Introduction of German Notgeld

Some German Notgeld scares me too. Notgeld was issued around the time Dr. Caligari hit the cinemas. It was also a time of great civil unrest and anger at the government. While some local governments issued Notgeld to promote their villages, people and culture, others used it to make anti-government statements or express their desperation through images of death.

Frankly, a lot of notgeld designs has a creepy, scary feel. There are often a lot of black, shadows and gothic fonts in the designs. There are a few examples to highlight:

• 1923 Braunschweig 10 – 75 Pfennig series (Mehl 155.1)- scary middle ages jester
• 1922 Dassow 10 Pfennig (Mehl 260.2) – evidence of a scythe- instrument of death
• 1921 Alterenwerder 50 Pfennig – scary depiction of the hand of government oppressing people
• 1921 Erfurt 50 Pfennig series (Mehl 344.4) – General dark, gothic designs.

Notable Designs

The most striking and scariest notgeld is the Oberammergau 75 Pfennig. It would fit perfectly in any Halloween party. This note features a giant skeleton Grim Reaper standing over a mountain village. It was printed with the number 1634 on it, the year the bubonic plaque receded. The grim reaper is also wearing a crown and a red cape. I don’t know if this is a reference to the former Emperor of Germany and its government or if it refers back to some imagery of the Grim Reaper.

The theme has a historical link. The villagers claim that they prayed to God in 1634 to spare them from the plaque and committed to perform the Passion Play depicting the life of Jesus every 10 years. The last time was 2010. I do wonder if the village performed the play in 2020 and if the village was spared our modern day plague COVID. Either way, this is a terrifying piece of notgeld art.