100 Schilling 1949, Austria
| in Krause book | Number: 131 |
| Years of issue: | 03.11.1949 |
| Edition: | -- |
| Signatures: | Generalrat: Herr Fritz Miller, Präsident: Dr. Hans Rizzi, Generaldirektor: Dr. Franz Bartsch |
| Serie: | 1949 - 1954 Issues |
| Specimen of: | 1949 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 176 х 85 |
| Printer: | Oesterreichische Banknoten und Sicherheitsdruck, Wien |
* 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:
Unknown woman - Idealportrait.
Avers:
In the description of this note there are many mysteries.
I wrote to the Austrian Museum of Money, which is open at the Bank of Austria, in Vienna. There works Herr Michael Grundner, who always helps me with descriptions of Austrian banknotes.
Here's what he said to me:
"Sg. Herr....,
1)Die kindliche Figur ist ein Putto – in Wien und Österreich gibt es gefühlt Tausende davon. Es ist nahezu unmöglich herauszufinden von Welchem Schloss, Kloster, Kirche, Gemälde oder Brunnen die Vorlage stammt (wenn überhaupt). Der Entwerfer hat dazu nichts hinterlassen.
2)Der Frauenkopf ist noch ein Idealportrait, wer dafür Modell gestanden hat oder auf welcher Vorlage es basiert ist ebenfalls nicht überliefert.
3)Die Meerjungfrau wird normalerweise als Donauweibchen aus österreichischen Sagen interpretiert. Der Gestalter Erhard Amadeus-Dier hat sich sicher von den vielen in Wien vorhandenen Barockfiguren inspirieren lassen. Von den vorkommenden Figuren her käme ein Brunnen im Park von Schloss Schönbrunn als mögliche Vorlage in Frage, allerdings für die Banknote stark adaptiert. Die Nixe ist jedenfalls die einzige (halb)nackte Frau auf einer österreichischen Banknote. Im Hintergrund ist der berühmte Blick auf Wien von Schloss Belvedere aus zu erkennen und rechts die Donau.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen.."
In English:
"Dear Mr. ....,
1) The childlike figure is a putto - in Vienna and Austria there are felt thousands of them. It is almost impossible to find out which castle, monastery, church, painting or well the original is (if any). The designer has left nothing behind.
2) The woman's head is still an ideal portrait, who has stood for model or on which template it is likewise not handed over.
3) The mermaid is usually interpreted as Danube woman from Austrian legends. The designer Erhard Amadeus-Dier has certainly been inspired by the many baroque figures in Vienna. A fountain in the park of Schönbrunn Palace might be considered as a possible model, but it was strongly adapted for banknotes. The mermaid is at any rate the only (half) naked woman on an Austrian banknote. In the background you can see the famous view of Vienna from Belvedere Palace and to the right is the Danube river.
Best regards.."
Here's what I managed to find, in addition:
Across the field an ornament of stylized flowers and acanthus leaves.
Below, just to the left of the center, is Putto with a double oboe. Most likely, the designer saw a similar Putto in the Upper Belvedere Castle, but I have not yet been able to find there even a bit similar Putto (pictured). Why from Upper Belvedere Castle - please read about next object on banknote!!!
A putto is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. A putto is often called a cherub (plural cherubs) although unlike the Biblical cherub (plural cherubim) in form and symbolism: cherubim have four faces of different species and several pairs of wings, and are sacred, whereas putti are secular and represent a non-religious passion. However, in the Baroque period of art, the putto came to represent the omnipresence of God. A putto representing a cupid is also called an amorino (plural amorini).
In the center, behind the face value in words, is a pattern, the prototype of which was, presumably, the pattern on the wall of the Upper Belvedere castle, near the steps, made from the Kaiser stone (particularly strong limestone from a quarry in Eastern Austria, near the Hungarian border).
In top left corner is the coat of arms of Austria.
The current coat of arms of Austria, albeit without the broken chains, has been in use by the Republic of Austria since 1919. Between 1934 and the German annexation in 1938 Austria used a different coat of arms, which consisted of a double-headed eagle. The establishment of the Second Republic in 1945 saw the return of the original (First Republic) arms, with broken chains added to symbolise Austria's liberation.
The blazon of the Federal Arms of the Republic of Austria reads:
Gules a fess Argent, escutcheon on the breast of an eagle displayed Sable, langued Gules, beaked Or, crowned with a mural crown of three visible merlons Or, armed Or, dexter talon holding sickle, sinister talon holding hammer, both talons shackled with chain broken Argent.
The symbols and emblems used in the Austrian arms are as follows:
The Eagle: Austria's sovereignty (introduced 1919)
The escutcheon Emblem of Austria (late Middle Ages, reintroduced 1915)
The mural crown: The middle class (introduced 1919)
The sickle: Agriculture (introduced 1919)
The Hammer: Industry (introduced 1919)
The broken chains: Liberation from National Socialist dictatorship (added 1945).
Denominations in numerals are in lower right corner, on background by small numbers numerously and centered, in words centered.
Revers:
The banknote shows the Danube mermaid (Donauweibchen or Donaunixe) together with Putto, which are sure to accompany all fountains in the Baroque style. To the right of the mermaid is the bank of the Danube river.
On the photo is the fountain, in the park of Belvedere Palace, which, theoretically (as I already wrote above) could serve as a prototype for the image on the banknote. However, the image was heavily modified.
Differences are many - the main thing - the mermaid in the fountain has two legs, each of which ends with a fin (on the third photo), on the banknote is a real mermaid, with one tail.
In Austria there are several legends about the Danube mermaid, here is one of them:
"The Danube Mermaid.
At the hour when the evening ended calmly, when the moon shines in the sky and pours its silver light on the earth, is a lovely creature in the midst of the Danube waves. Light curls framing a beautiful face adorn a wreath of flowers; Flowers are also snow-white. The young enchantress then sways on the shimmering waves, then disappears in the river depth to soon again appear on the surface.
At times the mermaid leaves cool waters and wanders in the moonlight over the dewy coastal meadows, not even daring to appear to people, peers into lonely fishing huts and rejoices at the peaceful life of their poor inhabitants. Often, she warns fishermen, telling them about the imminent danger: ice jams, high water, or severe storms.
She helps one, the other doesomed to die, enticing her with seductive singing into the river. Surrounded by a sudden yearning, he follows her and finds a grave on the river bottom.
Many centuries ago, when Vienna was still a small town and where the tall houses are now adorned, low fishing lodges were littered to each other, an old fisherman and his son sat in a poor winter home on a frosty winter night, at a burning hearth. They repaired the networks and talked about the dangers of their craft. The old man, of course, knew a lot of stories about water and mermaids.
"At the bottom of the Danube," he said, "there is a huge crystal palace, and the river king lives there with his wife and children. On large tables are his glass vessels, in which he holds the souls of drowned people. The king often goes out for a walk along the shore, and woe to him who dares to call him: he will at the same moment drag him to the bottom. His daughters, mermaids, all as for the selection of a beauty and very much eager for the young handsome guys. Those who manage to charm them, in speed, must certainly drown. So beware of the mermaids, my son! They are all pretty, sometimes they even come to dance with people and dance all night, to the first cocks, and then hurry back to their water kingdom.
The old man knew many stories and stories; The son listened to his father's words with disbelief, for he had never before seen a mermaid. Before the old fisherman could finish his story, the door of the hut suddenly opened. The interior of the poor dwelling was lit up by a magical light, and on the threshold a beautiful girl appeared in a white flickering garment. In her braids, shining like gold, were interwoven white water lilies.
- Do not be scared! Said the beautiful guest, fixing her damp blue gaze on the young fisherman. "I'm just a mermaid and will not hurt you." I came to warn you about the danger. A thaw is approaching; The ice on the Danube will crack and melt, the river will come out of the shores and flood the coastal meadows and your dwellings. Do not lose time, run, otherwise you will perish.
The father and son were exactly petrified with astonishment, and when the strange vision disappeared and the door quietly shut again, they could not say a word for a long time. They did not know if this happened to them in a dream or in reality. Finally the old man took a breath, looked at his son and asked:
"Did you see it, too?"
The young man shook off his torpor and silently nodded. No, it was not an obsession! In their hut was a mermaid, they both saw her, they both heard her words!
Father and son jumped to their feet and rushed out of the hut, on a frosty night, hurried to their neighbors, other fishermen, and told them about a miraculous incident. And there was not a single person in the village who would not believe in the prophecy of a good mermaid; All tied their belongings to knots and left the dwellings that same night, carrying with them whatever they could carry, and rushed to the surrounding hills. They knew perfectly well what a sudden thaw would threaten them if a frozen stream suddenly broke their fetters.
When the morning dawned, they heard a dull crackle and a thunder from the river; The bluish transparent blocks of ice piled on top of each other. The next day coastal meadows and fields covered a bubbling and frothy lake. Only the steep roofs of the fishermen's huts were lonely rising above the still-flowing water. But no man and no beast drowned, all had time to retire to a safe distance.
The water soon subsided, the stream returned to its course, and everything became as before. But is it all? No, one person has lost his peace forever! It was a young fisherman who could not forget the beautiful mermaid and the gentle gaze of her blue eyes. He always saw her before him; Her image persecuted the young man persistently, whether he was fishing or sitting in front of the fire. She appeared to him even at night in a dream, and in the morning, waking up, he could not believe that it was just a dream.
More and more often he went to the bank of the Danube, for a long time sat alone under the willow willows and gazed into the water. In the noise of the stream, his beckoning voice seemed to him. The most adventurous thing he did was go out in his boat to the middle of the river and thoughtfully admired the wave game, and every silvery fish that passed by seemed to purposely tease him. He leaned over the edge of the boat, extended his arms to her, as if wanting to grab her, grab and hold her for ever. However, his dream was not destined to come true. Day by day, his eyes grew sadder, and all was bitter in his heart when he returned to his dwelling in the evening.
One night his longing became so unbearable that he secretly left the hut, went ashore and untied his boat. He did not return back. In the morning, his boat, alone, without a swimmer, swayed on the waves in the middle of the river.
No one has ever seen a young fisherman again. For many years since that time the old father was sitting alone in front of his hut, looking at the river and crying about the fate of the son, whom the mermaid carried with him to the bottom of the Danube, into the crystal palace of the water king."
In lower right corner is the music lyre, as symbol of poets.
Right behind the lyre is Rusty cliff fern (Woodsia ilvensis).
It, commonly known as oblong woodsia, is a fern found in North America and northern Eurasia. Also known as rusty woodsia or rusty cliff fern, it is typically found on sunny, exposed cliffs and rocky slopes and on thin, dry, acidic soils.
Its distribution is circumpolar and is most abundant in Scandinavia, the Ural and Altai mountains and the eastern United States. It is also found in Japan, Alaska, Canada, coastal Greenland and various European locations including the Alps.
The plant was first identified as a separate species from specimens collected in Scotland in Bolton's 1785 publication Filices Britannica. Bolton distinguished between Acrostichum ilvense and Acrostichum alpina, now Woodsia ilvensis and Woodsia alpina respectively, which had previously been conflated. The genus Woodsia was established in 1810 by Robert Brown, who named it named after the English botanist Joseph Woods. "Ilvensis" is the genitive form of the Latin name for the island of Elba.
The leaves are typically 6 inches long and 1 inch wide, with stiff, erected pointed tips and cut into 12 nearly opposite stemless leaflets. The underside of the leaves are covered in white woolly fibres, which later turn rusty brown. 
In lower left corner is the famous view of Vienna from the Upper Belvedere (through its park).
The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.
The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling Habsburg dynasty. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoy's successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire.
The construction of the Upper Belvedere began as early as 1717, as testified by two letters that Prince Eugene sent from Belgrade to his servant Benedetti in summer 1718, describing the progress of work on the palace. Construction was so far advanced by 2 October 1719 that the prince was able to receive the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there. The decoration of the interior started as early as 1718. In 1719 he commissioned the Italian painter Francesco Solimena to execute both the altarpiece for the Palace Chapel and the ceiling fresco in the Golden Room. In the same year Gaetano Fanti was commissioned to execute the illusionistic quadratura painting in the Marble Hall. In 1720 Carlo Carlone was entrusted with the task of painting the ceiling fresco in the Marble Hall, which he executed from 1721–1723.
The building was completed in 1723. The Sala Terrena, however, was at risk of collapsing due to structural problems, and in the winter of 1732–1733 Hildebrandt was forced to install a vaulted ceiling supported by four Atlas pillars, giving the room its current appearance. Salomon Kleiner, an engineer from the Mainz elector's court, produced a ten-part publication between 1731 and 1740 containing a total of ninety plates, entitled Wunder würdiges Kriegs- und Siegs-Lager deß Unvergleichlichen Heldens Unserer Zeiten Eugenii Francisci Hertzogen zu Savoyen und Piemont ("Wondrous war and victory encampment of the supreme hero of our age Eugene Francis Duke of Savoy and Piedmont"), which documented in precise detail the state of the Belvedere complex.
The garden had a scenery enclosed by clipped hedging, even as the Belvedere was building, in the formal French manner with gravelled walks and jeux d'eau by Dominique Girard, who had trained in the gardens of Versailles as a pupil of André Le Nôtre. Its great water basin in the upper parterre and the stairs and cascades peopled by nymphs and goddesses that links upper and lower parterres survive, but the patterned bedding has long been grassed over; it is currently being restored.
On the background of Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral is clearly visible.
St. Stephen's Cathedral (more commonly known by its German title: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339-1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen's Cathedral has borne witness to many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-coloured tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols.
Denominations in numerals and in words are on top, on background, numerously, in small numbers.
Comments:
Designer: Erhard Amadeus-Dier.
Erhard Amadeus Dier, named Amadeus-Dier (born February 8, 1893 in Vienna, Austria, died September 25, 1969 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria) was an Austrian painter and graphic artist.
Dier studied from Camillo Sitte and Josef Jungwirth at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and traveled to Switzerland, Italy and Spain. He began his artistic career as an illustrator. He created designs for Austrian banknotes, tapestries, wallpapers and church windows. He also painted portraits and animal paintings and worked as a graphic artist and porcelain painter.
During the period of national socialism, he was active in the Austrian resistance movement.
Obverse and reverse engraver: Rupert (Ruppert) Franke.
Born 1888 in Vienna, died 1971 in Vienna.
Graphic artist and copper engraver. Pupil of Alfred Cossmann. He was not only active in the banknotes design for the Austrian-Hungarian Bank and the Austrian National Bank but also designed numerous Pengo notes for the Hungarian banknote printing company.
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