25 Pfennig, Stadt Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg, 1921 (Reutergeld)

Reutergeld der Stadt Fürstenberg i. M.

Reverse of 25 Pfennig, Stadt Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg, 1921 (Reutergeld) — Reverse 600 dpi

This copy

Accession: OM-00816
Series year: 1921
Actually issued: 1921
Signatures: This issue carries no bank manager or cashier signature.
Grade: UNC (IBNS)
Estimated from the archival scan. Folds, soiling and edge condition are visible at this resolution; paper crispness, pinholes, small repairs and pressing are not.
Estimated value: $10 indicative
Category benchmark scaled for grade — an order of magnitude, not an appraisal. Priced 2026-10-24.
Dimensions: 76.8 × 56.1 mm (±0.5, from the scan)
Themes: Notgeld Serienschein Mecklenburg Reutergeld Low German verse Weimar Republic

The type

Type: 25 Pfennig, Stadt Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg, 1921 (Reutergeld)
Printer: Not established
Rarity: common

Fürstenberg in MecklenburgGermany, 1920 borders

Symbology

Fritz Reuter verse: A quotation in Low German from the poet Fritz Reuter (1810-1874), which gives the Mecklenburg "Reutergeld" genre its name.
Fürstenberg Schloss: The pictorial face shows the Baroque ducal palace of Fürstenberg, built 1741-52 as a dowager seat of the dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, beneath the heading "Reutergeld der Stadt Fürstenberg".
Validity to 31 May 1922: The note is stated to be good within the municipality until 31 May 1922 - emergency money designed from the outset to lapse.

What was happening

Reutergeld was Mecklenburg's own version of the Notgeld collector craze. Around 1921 a number of Mecklenburg towns issued Serienscheine whose texts quoted the Low-German (Plattdeutsch) poet Fritz Reuter (1810-1874), the region's most beloved writer, born at Stavenhagen. The Stiftung Mecklenburg describes Reutergeld as a purely collectible issue without real payment function, spreading Reuter's dialect lines as a piece of regional self-advertisement and early tourism promotion; the companion small value is [[notgeld-fuerstenberg-mecklenburg-reutergeld-10-pfennig]].

This is the 25 Pfennig of the Stadt Fürstenberg, issued by Der Magistrat and valid until 31 May 1922. The pictorial face reads Reutergeld der Stadt Fürstenberg and shows the Schloss with the value "25"; the other face carries a landscape and a Plattdeutsch Reuter verse.

"Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg" is Fürstenberg/Havel, today a small town in northern Brandenburg but in 1921 the southernmost corner of the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. It is a Wasserstadt ("water town") built on islands among the Röblinsee, Baalensee and Schwedtsee; its Schloss, a Baroque palace raised in 1741-52 for Duchess Dorothea Sophie as a dowager seat of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz dukes, is the building shown on this note. (It should not be confused with the Swabian Fürstenberg or the Oder-side Fürstenberg.)

This account belongs to the type, not this copy — it is shared by every 25 Pfennig, Stadt Fürstenberg in Mecklenburg, 1921 (Reutergeld) in the collection.

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