1921 - Germany – Verein Naturschutzpark (Heide Park) 1 Mark

1921 - Germany – Verein Naturschutzpark (Heide Park) 1 Mark
CA$8.00

🌿 1921 Germany – Verein Naturschutzpark (Heide Park) 1 Mark Hilfsschein

“Erhaltet dem deutschen Volk den Heidepark”

(Preserve for the German people the Heath Park)

🧾 General Information

  • Issuer: Verein Naturschutzpark e.V. (Association for the Nature Preservation Park)

  • Head Office: Stuttgart, Germany

  • Circulation Area: Wilsede and Niederhaverbeck, District Soltau (Hanover Province)

  • Date of Issue: December 1919 – 1921 (series varies)

  • Denomination: 1 Mark

  • Serial Number Example: 055744

  • Redeemable Until: 31 December 1921

  • Type: Hilfsschein (Charitable Emergency Voucher) — valid mainly in guesthouses within the Nature Park

🎨 Design Details

Front (Obverse)

  • Header Text: “Hilfsschein des Vereins Naturschutzpark e.V. Sitz Stuttgart – Gutschein über eine Mark.”
    (Aid Certificate of the Association for the Nature Preservation Park, Stuttgart – Voucher for One Mark)

  • Artwork: Silhouette scene of Heidschnucken (grey heath sheep) grazing beneath trees in the Lüneburg Heath.

  • Inscription: Valid only in park restaurants and lodges of the Verein Naturschutzpark in Wilsede and Niederhaverbeck, Soltau District.

  • Slogan: “Erhaltet dem deutschen Volk den Heidepark” — “Preserve for the German people the Heath Park.”

  • Typography: Heavy black Fraktur (Gothic) font against soft lavender-grey background with floral flourishes.

Back (Reverse)

  • Scene: Depiction of Karl der Große (Charlemagne) in the year 785 A.D., marching with his troops from Verden to Bardowiek along the northern slope of the Wilseder Berg (the highest point in the Heath).

  • Caption:
    “Karl der Große zog mit seinem Trosk auf seinem Zuge von Verden nach Bardowiek 785 an der Nordseite des Wilseder Berges entlang.”

  • Art Style: Bold woodcut composition with earth tones — brown, violet, and ochre — reflecting the expressionist school of the 1920s.

  • Vertical Text: “EINE MARK” on each side in ornamental Fraktur lettering.

🌍 Historical Context

This note was not issued by a city or bank but by Germany’s first private conservation organization — the Verein Naturschutzpark (1909).
The group created the Lüneburger Heide Nature Reserve, one of Europe’s first protected areas.

After WWI, tourism and support for environmental causes collapsed. The organization issued these Hilfsscheine both to raise funds and serve as spending money for visitors within the park — a beautiful fusion of currency, fundraising, and ecological propaganda.

Each note linked German history (Charlemagne and the Saxon frontier) with landscape heritage (Lüneburg Heath).