Rare Notgeld banknote (1920) featuring a portrait of Anton von Arco-Valley – the assassin of the Jewish leader of ...

Rare Notgeld banknote (1920) featuring a portrait of Anton von Arco-Valley – the assassin of the Jewish leader of Bavaria

A rare Notgeld banknote with a face value of approximately 50 Marks, issued in honor of Anton von Arco-Valley—the Jewish-German who assassinated Kurt Eisner, the leader of the socialist revolution in Bavaria, in an effort to ingratiate himself with German nationalists. This exceedingly scarce note was released in April 1920, shortly after von Arco-Valley’s trial, specifically to commemorate his act of murder.

Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley [1897-1945] – A German Nobleman of Jewish Descent, Assassin of Bavarian Leader Kurt Eisner. Born in Upper Austria to a German aristocratic family of Jewish heritage, his mother came from a wealthy Jewish banking family. During World War I, he served in the Bavarian regiment and returned from the front as an embittered nationalist, outraged by Germany’s defeat and loss of sovereignty. Although of Austrian origin, he fully embraced Germany as his homeland, studied at Munich University, and identified as a German nationalist. Due to his aristocratic background, Arco-Valley adopted monarchist values and declared himself an anti-Semite, despite his Jewish maternal lineage. His hatred focused particularly on Kurt Eisner, leader of the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), founded in 1917 with the goal of ending the war, and whose electoral influence was growing across Germany. Arco-Valley described Eisner as: "Eisner is a Bolshevik, a Jew; he is not a German, he does not feel German, he undermines all patriotic thoughts and feelings. He is a traitor to this land." After being rejected from the neo-pagan Thule Society due to his Jewish ancestry, and in a desperate attempt to prove his loyalty to German nationalist values, he decided to assassinate Kurt Eisner to gain favor with the German right-wing. On February 21, 1919, Arco-Valley acted alone, shooting Eisner to death on a Munich street. He quickly became a hero of the nationalist movement, winning widespread support among students. (However, his assassination triggered violent retaliation from socialists, communists, and anarchists across Munich, resulting in multiple deaths, including Prince Gustav of Thurn and Taxis.). His actions inspired future Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, who was in Munich at the time. Arco-Valley was put on trial for murder in January 1920, found guilty, and sentenced to death under state law. However, the judges minimized the severity of his crime, stating: "If all German youth were so filled with such radiant enthusiasm, we could face the future with confidence." As his sentence was read, Arco-Valley stood before the court delivering nationalist and anti-communist statements, prompting the entire courtroom to erupt in prolonged applause. The next day, the Bavarian government, under Justice Minister Ernst Müller-Meiningen, unanimously commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. He was incarcerated in Landsberg Prison, Cell 70—and in a historical twist, in 1924, he was removed from his cell to make space for Adolf Hitler, following Hitler’s conviction for leading the Beer Hall Putsch. Arco-Valley was released in 1925 after a sentence reduction, and in 1927, he was fully pardoned. He later worked as a journalist, and in June 1945, at the age of 48, he died in a car accident in Salzburg.

Size: 10 × 7 cm. On the reverse, the note depicts a landscape from von Arco-Valley’s Austrian birthplace. Condition: very good.