Featured Bielefeld 1 Goldmark / City Savings Bank Issue / Need a German Translation

Here is a somewhat interesting notgeld coin:



The page for this coin and some information concerning the imagry, close details and the message being espoused can be found here:

http://www.cachecoins.org/bielefeld02.htm

Feel free to let me know if you read it and find glaring errors. I am not a very good writer and I write these fast without another to edit them so I am sure there are errors. I dont usually post these but I just found this coin, and the ideas expressed on it, fascinating and felt the need to pass it on. The main purpose is to document the coin and offer as much information possible while keeping it brief.

I also need a bit of help. There is one last bit of information I am missing. One major theme of this coin is a local Bielefeld Tale about a Blacksmith who makes a deal with the devil. As of yet I have been unable to find a good translation of this story. I do have it in German. Babelfish makes a mess of it and I thought maybe someone who is willing and able would help me translate it as closely as possible...It is posted below:

In Bielefeld lebte einst ein Schmied, der seine Kunst wie kein anderer Verstand. Um immer noch Besseres zu leisten und in den Besitz aller geheimen Künste zu kommen, ging er einen Bund mit dem Teufel ein. Da wurde er so berühmt, daß auch St. Petrus, der einmal in das Land hinunter mußte und dessen Pferd ein loses Hufeisen hatte, zu ihm ging. Auf die Frage nach seiner Schuldigkeit erhielt Petrus die Antwort des Schmiedes, Geld wolle er nicht, aber der Apostel möge ihm einen Beutel, aus dem ihm stets das Geld fortkäme, segnen. Das tat Petrus.

Bald darauf war die Vertragsfrist mit dem Teufel abgelaufen, welcher kam, den Schmied zu holen. Als der Teufel anklopfte, sagte ihm der Schmied, die Tür brauche er ihm nicht zu öffnen, er möge durch das Schlüsselloch hereinfahren. Das tat der Teufel, geriet aber in den innen davorgehaltenen Beutel des Schmieds, der ihn schnell verschloß und dann auf dem Amboß den Teufel derart bearbeitete, der bereit war auf den Schmied zu verzichten.

Als er nun seinen Tod nahe fühlte, ließ er sich sein altes Schurzfell umtun und ging so, als der Tod erfolgt war, zur Himmelstür, wurde aber von Petrus abgewiesen wegen seines früheren Vertrages mit dem Teufel, der ihn bei seinem Versuche, in der Hölle Unterschlupf zu finden, wegen der vom Schmied bezogenen Prügel auch abwies. So ging er zur Himmelstür zurück und warf, als Petrus einer frommen Jungfrau die Tür öffnete, sein Schurzfell hinein. Petrus verwies ihm das und hieß es ihn wieder hinauszuholen. Aber einmal im Himmel, setzte sich der Schmied auf sein Schurzfell und weigerte sich zu gehen, Petrus erinnerte sich, daß der Schmied gern den Armen gegeben und ließ ihn auf seinem Platze, wo er heute noch sitzt -

 

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Wow, this is a really neat coin. Notgeld is great in its diversity.

 

The detail of the production and the depth of allegory and allusion is outstanding. This is truly a nice little work of art.

 

Here's a go: "A blacksmith lived in Bielefeld, with skills known to no one else. In order to improve his skills and learn secret methods, he made an alliance with the Devil. He became so famous that St. Petrus (Saint Peter?) brought his horse with a loose horseshoe. When St. Petrus offered to pay the blacksmith, the smithy did not want money. So St. Petrus made him a blessed bag that would always be full of money (not sure on that last bit).

Soon after, the smithys contract with the devil came due and he came to take the blacksmith. When the devil knocked, the Smith invited him to come in through the keyhole. The devil did, but the Blacksmith was holding the money bag there and caught the devil inside. He sealed the bag, and beat it on his forge."

From there, it gets awfully confusing. "Fearing that his death was near, the Smith [did something] to get to the gates of Heaven. St. Petrus refused to let him in because of his contract with the devil. Next, he offered St. Petrus a young virgin. St. Petrus denied him entry again, but the smith sat down and refused to budge. St. Petrus remembered the help of the Smith, and allows him to stay at the gates to this day."

 

Hi Drusus,

I can't even remember how I stumbled on your post, but the efforts you've clearly already put into your research prompted me to sit down and try to craft a reply. I was a bit confused here because I saw that you already had a translation on the webpage you note in your post that is generally pretty solid (excepting the part about the bag from St. Peter), but I see that it is from another Cointalker in response to your 2008 query.

I'm actually curious as to where you got the German version here, which seems pretty abbreviated. I assume you know from your research that the origin of this story is from the oral tradition of the German low country, where similar themes of purgatory and deals with the devil by a blacksmith appear in tales like "The Smith of Juterbock" and "The Smith of Apolda", all of which are likely contemporaries or influences on the later "Gambling Hansel," including in Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm (a good translation, along with notes that cite these other "smith" tales can be found here: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/82gamblinghansel.html)

The most important thing to note here is that the German version you have isn't really "the" version or the "original" because the story was circulating, possibly for hundreds of years, before it was recorded. I think you have something like the version that was published in the 1770s except in that version the Smith is left in Purgatory, but there is an earlier version that leaves out the keyhole piece but does have him using his apron to get into heaven from the 1730's. All that to say I wouldn't get caught up too much in having an exact translation of the version you have, unless you have some reason to believe that your version was a direct influence on the designer of the notgeld (I'd definitely be curious to know if that's the case).

In any case, here's a quick go at the version you have (again the only part that seemed to actually be "incorrect " in the version on your website is the part about the bag from St. Peter:

"In the Village of Bielefeld there once lived a Smith who knew his Art like no other. In order to become better still, and to come into possession of the Secret Arts, the smith entered into a pact with the Devil.

The Smith soon became so renowned that even St. Peter once had to travel down to earth to see the Smith when his horse had a loose horseshoe. When Peter asked what he owed for the Smith's services, the Smith answered that he did not want any gold... but perhaps the apostle might bless for him pouch so that gold could always be drawn from it; St. Peter obliged.

Yet soon the term of the pact expired, and the Devil came to collect the Smith. When the Devil knocked, the Smith replied that surely the Devil did not need him to open the door- for he may simply come in through the keyhole. And so the Devil did, and found himself trapped in a bag that the smith held against the keyhole. The Smith quickly closed the bag, took it to his anvil and went to work hammering until the devil gave in to his demands.

(Presumably time passes, the Smith lives until an old age)

When the Smith felt death nearing he had his old fur apron put on, and so, when death overcame him, he went to the doorway of Heaven. Yet there St. Peter refused his entry because of his pact with the Devil, and then, when the Smith sought to find sanctuary in hell, the Devil repelled him as well because of the beating he had administered. And so the Smith went again to Heaven's Doorway, and when Peter opened the gate to let a pious virgin through the Smith tossed in his apron. St. Peter rebuked him for this, and called for him to retrieve it. However, once in Heaven, the smith sat down upon his apron and refused to leave. Peter, who remembered that the Smith had voluntarily given to the poor, decided to allow him to remain in that place- where he still sits today."


I hope this is of some help; I'm no notgeld expert, but I do like my history and the chance to practice a little German translation. Good luck with your research!
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