10 Pfennig Gefangenenlager

Langensalza — officially Bad Langensalza, in Thuringia — operated a significant prisoner of war camp during the First World War, holding primarily French and Russian captives. Camp scrip of this type was introduced across German POW facilities under military administration directives that prohibited prisoners from holding Reichsmark currency, both to prevent escape financing and to control internal camp economies. The Langensalza notes were produced locally rather than through any centralized printing authority, which accounts for the relatively crude manufacture common to this series.

The embossed seal and manuscript signature were the camp commandant's primary anti-counterfeiting measures — primitive by any standard, but adequate when the scrip's only valid redemption point was the camp canteen.