Germany, 2nd Empire, Breisach (Baden), Notgeld, 1918 AD.,
5 Pfennig (ø 18 mm / 1,53 g), zinc, holed, 1,5 ? g. original mint weight, mintage ? , axes medal alignment ↑↑ (0°), plain edge,
Obv.: STADT BREISACH / * 1918 * , the arms of the Von Grünenberg family at center in a dotted circle, a 6-topped mountain, date below between stars.
Rev.: KLEINGELDERSATZMARKE / 5 , denomination above value number 5 in a dotted circle, three stars below.
Funck 57.1A .
Year / Mintage
1918 / ?
Breisach (formerly Altbreisach) is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the Kaiserstuhl. A bridge leads over the Rhine to Neuf-Brisach, Alsace.
Its name is Celtic and means breakwater. The root Breis can also be found in the French word briser meaning to break. The hill, on which Breisach came into existence was — at least when there was a flood — in the middle of the Rhine, until the Rhine was straightened by the engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla in the 19th century, thus breaking its surge.
As arms for the town, however, the arms of the Von Grünenberg family were used (in red a silver 6-topped mountain). Members of this family acted as vassals for the Austrians since the end of the 14th century. The arms are first seen on coins struck in 1425. It is known from many different sources throughout the centuries.