Paper money in Bavaria

Paper money in Bavaria is an exciting chapter of Bavarian economic and cultural history. It documents not only the development of the currency and the nature of central banking, but also reflects the self-image of the state and of its regions.

The history of Bavarian central banking starts with the foundation of the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank (Bavarian Mortgage and Exchange Bank). From 1836, the bank was allowed to issue bank notes. After the foundation of the German Empire in 1871 and the standardisation of the monetary system in 1875, the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank renounced its privilege to issue bank notes. It was replaced by the Bayerische Notenbank (Bavarian Central Bank) which would issue bank notes up to the year 1935.

The Bavarian state issued paper bills only once: the Prussian war 1866 and the construction of the railway cost high sums of money which were supposed to be financed by the issue of orders for payment.

Apart from the issues by the central banks and by the state, emergency money formed an important part of Bavarian history of currency. Emergency money is a replacement currency which is supposed to remedy the lack of legal tender issued by the state or at least recognised by the state. The numerous issues by cities, communes and enterprises between 1914 and 1923 document the decline of currency which ended in 1923 with the complete crash of the financial system. At the same time, emergency money with its numerous depictions of monuments and locally renowned persons has its own importance for local history and culture.

The partial collections of "Paper money in Bavaria" available on bavarikon

>> This collection is part of the inventory of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).