Notgeld im Umfeld brüderischer Gemeinorte und Betriebe

Abstract

Emergency currency in the form of coins and notes was often issued in times of crisis as a replacement for or supplement to the regular currency. In the course of the First World War and the ensuing inflationary period this was the case in many of the places in which Moravian settlement congregations were located and also for businesses that were closely connected with the Moravian Church either economically or in terms of personnel. The reason for emergency coins being issued was almost always a shortage of materials that resulted either from the melting down of metals that were important for warfare (e. g., copper) or hoarding of silver coins of lasting value by the population. The reasons for emergency notes being issued were more varied and ranged from low-denomination notes replacing coins to inflationary money whose denominations had been altered after original printing. Special cases were the camp money that circulated in prisoner of war camps (e. g. Gnadenfrei) and notes created with high artistic standards (e. g. in Ebersdorf), for which the hoped-for increased value to collectors was more important than the nominal value. Moravian businesses in Neusalz (Gruschwitz textile factory) and Gnadenfrei (Zimmermann weaving mill) among others are known to have issued emergency currency in the form of coins and in some cases notes. For the population, emergency currency played an important role, as it made it possible to purchase goods needed for everyday life in selected shops. With the introduction of the Rentenmark (‘mortgage mark’) and the end of the inflationary period in 1924, emergency currency lost its economic function.