Deutsch-Hanseatischer Kolonial Gedenktag [German-Hanseatic Colonial Memorial Day]
- Title:
- Deutsch-Hanseatischer Kolonial Gedenktag [German-Hanseatic Colonial Memorial Day]
- Alternate Title:
- [German-Hanseatic Colonial Memorial Day]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Province of Berlin
- Date:
- 1921
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2564.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2564_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1920 - 1939
- Subject:
- Advertising & Promotion
Between the Wars
Money & Finance
Politics & Government
World War I - Measurement:
- 10 x 7 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- The collection includes two persuasive maps published on "notgeld," the small-denomination "emergency money" produced in Germany during and after World War I. See generally MacGregor 2017, ch. 23. During the War, low-denomination coins gradually disappeared in Germany as the metals were needed to produce arms. In their place, towns and cities began to produce their own currency in the form of small paper notes, roughly the size of large postage stamps. Financial institutions and other business and civic organizations soon did the same. "As the central state faltered, . . . the diversity that had marked coinage of the eighteenth century . . . found an exuberant twentieth century parallel in colourful explorations of local identity and civic pride." Ibid. 420-21. By the time the war ended, "as the appeal of such objects became apparent, special collectible notes were issued by towns desperate for revenue, often in sets and with their rhetoric ramped up to catch the eye of potential buyers." Wilkinson 2020. The notgeld were so popular that in 1922, the government failed in an effort to end their issuance. In all, there were more that 160,000 issues of notgeld.
These notes "present a remarkable survey of the public mood in the years 1919-23, as the Weimar Republic struggled into life; [and] of the issues that alarmed, fascinated and preoccupied the population. [They] are a compendium of German memories, hopes and fears in the early 1920s." MacGregor 421-22, 425. Not surprisingly, among the German "preoccupations" and "fears" after the War was anger at the nation's loss of important territory at home and its colonies abroad. This anger was reflected in notgeld (ibid. 429), including the two examples in the collection.
ID #2563.01, "Unity and Justice and Freedom for the German Fatherland," is a map of Germany with four areas of lost homeland territory highlighted in red: Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar Valley in the West; Northern Schleswig (lost to Denmark) in the Northwest; parts of West Prussia and Silesia (to Poland) and a district to Czechoslovakia in the East; and Memel along the Baltic in the Northeast to Lithuania. Across the map is a patriotic poem, urging readers to "hold on to" those "dear" to them and "the Fatherland" with "all your heart." On the verso, ID #2563.02, is a monumental figure with the words "We want to be a single nation of brothers. It is unnecessary and dangerous to separate us." This notgeld was issued by SV Soltau, a well-known football club that still exists, in sets of three with values of 50 pfennig, 75 pfennig, and one mark. The images and slogans on the verso were different for each denomination.
ID #2564.01, "German-Hanseatic Colonial Memorial Day," features a map of Africa, with inserts of other areas, showing the lost overseas colonies in red. These include Togo, Cameron, German South West Africa, and German East Africa. Outside of Africa, the lost colonies shown are the Kiautschou Bay concession in China and German New Guinea in the Pacific. The verso, ID #2564.02, features a large portrait of Dr. Carl Peters, an explorer, pioneer, and moving force in the establishment and rule of Germany's African colonies. Below the portrait is a single line of text: "Remember Our Colonies." This notgeld was issued in sets of six with differing portraits of important colonial figures on the verso, each with the same line of text.
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.