5 Mark 1964, East Germany
| in Krause book | Number: 22а |
| Years of issue: | 01.08.1964 |
| Edition: | -- |
| Signatures: | no signature |
| Serie: | 1964 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 01.08.1964 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 134 х 66 |
| Printer: | VEB Wertpapierdruckerei der DDR, Leipzig |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Rhombic pattern and hammers.
Avers:
The engraving on banknote is made after the portrait by German painter Joseph Karl Stieler of Alexander von Humboldt, finished in 1843.
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 - 6 May 1859) was a Prussian geographer, naturalist, explorer, and influential proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher, and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835). Humboldt's quantitative work on botanical geography laid the foundation for the field of biogeography. Humboldt's advocacy of long-term systematic geophysical measurement laid the foundation for modern geomagnetic and meteorological monitoring.
Between 1799 and 1804, Humboldt travelled extensively in Latin America, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view. His description of the journey was written up and published in an enormous set of volumes over 21 years. Humboldt was one of the first people to propose that the lands bordering the Atlantic Ocean were once joined (South America and Africa in particular). Humboldt resurrected the use of the word cosmos from the ancient Greek and assigned it to his multi-volume treatise, cosmos, in which he sought to unify diverse branches of scientific knowledge and culture. This important work also motivated a holistic perception of the universe as one interacting entity. 
On background is The coat of arms of GDR.
The national emblem of the German Democratic Republic featured a hammer and a compass, surrounded by a ring of rye. It was an example of what has been called "socialist heraldry".
The hammer represented the workers in the factories. The compass represented the intelligentsia, and the ring of rye the farmers. The first designs included only the hammer and ring of rye, as an expression of the GDR as a communist "Workers' and Farmers' state" ("Arbeiter- und Bauernstaat"). Surrounded by a wreath, the national emblem also acted as the emblem for the East German National People's Army, and when surrounded by a twelve pointed white star, for the People's Police.
When the federated states in East Germany were abolished and replaced by Bezirke, making the GDR into a unitary state, the national emblem came to be used by the regions too. The East Berlin government did not want regional symbols to be used, since they could stir up regional patriotism and movements for independence.
The emblem was adopted as the GDR's national emblem by a law of 26 September 1955, and added to the national flag by a law of 1 October 1959.
The display of the national emblem was for some years regarded as unconstitutional in West Germany and West Berlin and was prevented by the police. Only in 1969 did the West German government of Willy Brandt reverse this policy in what was known as "Ostpolitik".
Denominations in numerals are in lower left corner and centered, in words centered.
Revers:
On foreground is the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Please note - on banknote is used the image from beginning of the 1960s, which shows, that the white monument, in the center, at the entrance - was not there then. also, on the right of the entrance (when facing it), was a tree, which is not present today. This can be seen on a postcard in 1960, which I added to description.
The Humboldt University of Berlin (German: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, HU Berlin) is one of Berlin's oldest universities, founded on 15 October 1811 as the University of Berlin (Universität zu Berlin) by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt. The Humboldt university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities.
From 1828 it was known as the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, and later (unofficially) also as the Universität unter den Linden after its location in the former palace of Prince Henry of Prussia (1726–1802) which his brother, King Frederick II, had built for him between 1748 and 1753 on the avenue Unter den Linden.
In 1949, it changed its name to Humboldt-Universität in honour of both its founder Wilhelm and his brother, geographer Alexander von Humboldt. In 2012, the Humboldt University of Berlin was one of eleven German universities to win in the German Universities Excellence Initiative, a national competition for universities organized by the German Federal Government. The university has educated 29 Nobel Prize winners and is considered one of the prestigious universities in Europe as well as one of the most prestigious universities in the world for arts and humanities.
The inscription at bottom: "Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfälscht oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird bestraft".
In English: "Who imitates banknotes or falsified or forged or falsified procures and markets it, will be punished."
Centered, more to left side is, again, the coat of arms of GDR.
Denominations in numerals are on right and left sides, in words at bottom, centered.
Comments:
The series was withdrawn from circulation on Jan. 1, 1983.
Invalid from 1 January 1984.
The German central bank, the central bank was in the Soviet occupation zone (GDR) from 1948 to 1968. It was founded on July 20, 1948 as a successor of the German emission and clearing bank. In the West Zone and the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bank of German countries from 1957 the Bundesbank took over all tasks.
The seat of the Bank was in East Berlin. The "Law on the German central bank" of 31 October 1951 gave the German central bank the sole right to issue banknotes and to manage the cash transactions of the state budget. The Bank was understanding as a non-independent institution, but supervised by the Ministry of Finance.
A number of financial institutions at the country level have been integrated into the German central bank. For example, the Saxon State Bank and the Issuing Bank of Saxony in 1950 were incorporated into the German central bank.
On 1 January 1968, the German central bank was renamed in State Bank of the GDR.
Legal basis for the work of the German central bank was the "Law regarding the German central bank" from October 31, 1951.
The Presidents of the German central bank:
Willy Huhn (1948–1950)
Greta Kuckhoff (1950–1958)
Martin Schmidt (1958–1961)
Rolf Wetzel (1961–1964)
Helmut Dietrich (1964–1967)
Margarete Wittkowski (1967)
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