Hello, I was helping a friend (Numista user name: "Rafael Bruno Fernandes Távora") to add a coin when we noticed that the issuer was still missing in the German Notgeld section. And I come here, together with him, to ask for the creation of this issuer.
The issuer is "City of Wartenburg (East Prussia) - (East Prussia, Prussian province of - German Notgeld)".
That city today is the city of Barczewo in Poland.
About the city (according to the Wiki):
"Barczewo (until 1946 Wartembork, german Wartenburg in East Prussia) is a town in Olsztyn County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the seat of Gmina Barczewo with a population of 18,142 (as of 31 December 2020).
[…]
The city is located in historic Warmia on the Pisa Warmińska (Pissa), 15 kilometers northeast of Olsztyn (Olsztyn).
[…]
Around 1325, the Bishop of Warmia had a castle built in Wartenburg. During the first war against Lithuania, the first settlement of Altwartenburg was destroyed in 1354. Ten years later, the village was rebuilt and received Kulm's town charter from Bishop Johann II Stryprock. The church was also rebuilt.
The Franciscan monastery right next to the city was built in 1380. When it stood empty after the Reformation, it was left to the St. Bernards in 1597. The monastery was secularized in 1810, nationalized in 1830 and used as a penitentiary since 1834. However, the first prisoners were imprisoned here as early as 1812. Erich Koch, the former Nazi Gauleiter of East Prussia, was imprisoned here from 1965 to 1986.
In 1594, large parts of the castle burned down; the castle was then rebuilt.
The town got a railway connection in 1872 with the construction of the Thorn–Insterburg line. The station of Wartenburg was located about three kilometers north in Reuschhagen due to the hilly surrounding area. At the beginning of the 20th century, Wartenburg had a Protestant church, two Catholic churches, a synagogue, a district court and various commercial enterprises. The synagogue survived the November pogroms of 1938 undamaged.
On the basis of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the population in the Olsztyn voting area, to which Wartenburg belonged, voted on 11 July 1920 on whether to continue to belong to East Prussia (and thus to Germany) or to join Poland. In Wartenburg, 3020 inhabitants voted to remain with East Prussia, while Poland received 140 votes. In the Wartenburg penitentiary, 80 votes went to Germany and 20 to Poland.
Until January 1945, Wartenburg belonged to the district of Olsztyn in the province of East Prussia. Nine dwellings were incorporated. [...]
In 1928, the village of Terka (no longer existing) was incorporated. It previously belonged to Sapuhnen (Polish: Sapuny).
Towards the end of World War II, Wartenburg was occupied by the Red Army on 26 January 1945. At that time, there were still 1700 inhabitants in the partially destroyed city. In the summer of 1945, Wartenburg was placed under Polish administration by the Soviet occupying forces in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, along with the southern half of East Prussia. Subsequently, the immigration of Polish civilians began. Subsequently, numerous German city dwellers were expelled from Wartenburg by the local Polish administrative authority, and other Germans later resettled.
The Polish administrative authority first introduced the place name Wartembork for Wartenburg, and on 4 December 1946 this place name was changed to Barczewo in honor of the clergyman Walenty Barczewski (1856–1928).
[…]"
Below is a photo of the coin in the collection of my friend Rafael and, in sequence, a print of the Funck Catalog with the entry of this coin:
The reference to this coin is “Wartenburg - Funck #576.1”.
We also located a very good Polish website with a record of some coins for this city.
( Monety zastępcze - Notmünzen (notgeld.com.pl) )
Could you create and add this issuer to Numista so we can add the currency?
We would be very happy and grateful.
Thank you all.
With the bests regards, Fábio and Rafael from Coin Show group 😄.
Note 1: Websites used in our researchs:
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barczewo
- https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostpreu%C3%9Fen#Verwaltungsgliederung_der_Provinz_Ostpreu%C3%9Fen
- https://www.notgeld.com.pl/polskie/index.php?l=pl&co=barczewo&acc=W
Note 2: There are two cities Wartenburg:
- The first, and that of our objective to be the new issuer, the City of Wartenburg in East Prussia (modern-day Barczewo, Poland).
- And the second, but without any connection with our order, just for observation, the City of Wartenburg (Kamberg) in Saxony-Anhalt.
