1921 AD., Germany, Weimar Republic, Burg auf Fehmarn (city), collector series issue, 25 Pfennig, Grabowski/Mehl 207.1-1/3. 019428 Obverse
State: Germany, Weimar Republic
Issuer: Burg auf Fehmarn (city) (SH / SH) Stadt
Location of issue: Burg auf Fehmarn
Date of issue: 1921 AD.,
Value: 25 Pfennig
Size: 96 x 62 mm
Material: paper
Watermark: -
Serial : -
Serial no. : 019428
Signatures: (2)
Printer: J. C. König & Ebhardt in Hannover , designer: Willbrandt
Obv.: 25 Pfennig 25 / Gültig …. , arms.
Rev.: 25 - Pf / Nerthus-Sage / Will-/brandt / As Tacitus de römisch´ Schriewer leew, da …. , goddess Nerthus on carriage left.
References: Grabowski/Mehl 207.1-1/3 .
In Germanic paganism, Nerthus is a goddess associated with fertility. Nerthus is attested by first century AD Roman historian Tacitus in his ethnographic work Germania.
In Germania, Tacitus records that the remote Suebi tribes were united by their veneration of the goddess at his time of writing and maintained a sacred grove on an (unspecified) island and that a holy cart rests there draped with cloth, which only a priest may touch. The priests feel her presence by the cart, and, with deep reverence, attend her cart, which is drawn by heifers. Everywhere the goddess then deigns to visit, she is met with celebration, hospitality, and peace. All iron objects are locked away, and no one will leave for war. When the goddess has had her fill she is returned to her temple by the priests. Tacitus adds that the goddess, the cart, and the cloth are then washed by slaves in a secluded lake. The slaves are then drowned.
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