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Prussia: 1 pfennig 1852. The obverse reads: 360 [make up] one thaler.

German Empire: 10 pfennig iron coin 1917

The  Pfennig (help·info) (German pronunciation: [ˈpfɛnɪç], abbreviation Pf, symbol ₰), plural  Pfennige (help·info), is an old German coin or note, which existed from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002.

While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, it lost its value through the years and was the minor coin of the Mark currencies in the German Reich, the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), and after the German reunification in the present Federal Republic of Germany until the introduction of the euro. Pfennig was also the name of the subunit of the Danzig mark (1922–1923) and the Danzig gulden (1923–1939) in the Free City of Danzig (German: Freie Stadt Danzig; Polish: Wolne Miasto Gdańsk).

As a currency sign the letter 'd' for 'denarius' in German kurrent script was used: ₰. This abbreviation has nearly fallen out of use since the 1950s, with the demise and eventual abolition of the Reichsmark with its Reichspfennig. The symbol is encoded in Unicode at U+20B0 ₰ german penny sign (HTML: ₰).

Etymology[link]

The British penny is etymologically related to the 'Pfennig', the Swedish penning, which was also model for the Finnish penni (1860–2001), the Polish fenig (1917–1918) and the fening of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1998–today).

The etymology of the Pfennig is not completely clear, but seems to rely on the way coins were minted during the Middle Ages: the base material were thin flat metal discs. The value was embossed from one side, creating a pan (German Pfanne)-like coin.

In some German countries (such as Prussia and Bavaria), coins had similar but different names, as Pfenning, Penning, Pending, Pfanding and Penny. This was for better handling due to different currencies (of different states within the Deutscher Bund) used simultaneously.

History[link]

In the 8th century, Charlemagne declared that 240 Pfennigs should be minted from a pound of silver. A single coin had mass of 1.3 grams, or 1.7 grams of after the coinage reform of circa 790. Until the 13th century, the pfennig was made from real silver, and thus of high value. From the 12th century on, the King was no longer able to enforce the regalia to mint coins, so many towns and local lords made their own coins, mostly using less valuable metals and less metal per coin, so different Pfennigs had different values.

Some renowned coins are the Häller Pfennig of Schwäbisch Hall, some centuries later called Heller and minted throughout the country, and the Kreuzer (from "Kreuz", the cross minted on the coins).

In the late 17th century the pfennigs had lost most of their value. The last Pfennig coins containing traces of silver are rarities minted in 1805.

The Mark gold currency, introduced in 1873 as currency of the newly founded German Reich, was parted as 1 Mark = 100 Pfennig. This partition was retained through all German currencies until 2001.

The last West German one- and two-Pfennig coins were steel with a copper coating, the five- and ten-Pfennig coins were steel with a brass coating. The latter was called Groschen, while the five-pfennig coin, half a groschen, was regionally (east of the river Elbe) also referred to as the Sechser (literally in English: sixpence), deriving from the former duodecimal division of the groschen. All four coins had their value imprinted on the obverse and oak on the reverse.

The coins of the Mark der DDR were made of aluminium, except for the 20 pfennigs coin, which was made of an aluminium copper alloy.

• 

  German Empire: 25 pfennig iron coin 1918. The word on the top means "wartime money".

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  Free City of Danzig: 10 pfennig 1932

• Pfennig 1950 Deutschland.jpg

  West Germany: 1 pfennig coin 1950

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  East Germany: 1 pfennig coin 1979

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  Rottweil: Rottweil pfennig, issued between 1200 and 1220

• 

  Nazi Germany:10 reichspfennig coin 1937.

Pfennig since the euro[link]

After the introduction of the euro, some, mainly older, Germans tend to use the term Pfennig instead of cent for the copper-coloured coins (and the term Groschen for the 10-cents-coin).^{[citation needed]}

Unicode[link]

The pfennig ligature is defined and coded in Unicode as follows:

See also[link]

• Bracteate
• Penny

v t e Currency signs (¤) Circulating ฿ B/. Br ₵ ¢ C$ ₡ ден. ₫ ֏ € ƒ Ft G ₲ ₴ Kč ₭ L L / E £ / ₤ лв. ₦ ₱ P Q R ﷼ ៛ RM Rp RSD/РСД ₹ ₨ S/. ৳ R$ $ ₪ ₸ ₮ VT ₩ ¥ zł Historic ₳ ₢ ₰ DM ₯ ₠ ₣ I/. Kčs Lm ℳ ₥ ₧ ℛℳ Sk ₷

Mike Krüger
Krüger in 1986
Birth name	Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger
Born	(1951-12-14) December 14, 1951 (age 60) Ulm, Germany
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Spouse	Birgit
Website	http://www.mike-krueger.de

Mike Krüger (born Michael Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger, December 14, 1951 in Ulm) is a German comedian and singer.

This article about a German comedian or humourist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Johanna von Koczian (born 30 October 1933 in Berlin) is a German actress. She grew up in Salzburg, Austria, where actor Gustaf Gründgens offered her a role at the Salzburg Festival. She later portrayed Anna Frank at the Schiller theater in Berlin, but her breakthrough in cinema was her role in the 1957 remake of Victor and Victoria.^[1] She has appeared in 60 films and television shows since 1955. She starred in the film The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi, which was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival.^[2]

She is the daughter of a German soldier, Gustav von Koczian-Miskolcy, and his wife Lydia Alexandra. After a brief marriage with film director Dietrich Haugk which ended in divorce in 1961, Johanna von Koczian was married to music producer Wolf Kabitzky, who died in July 2004. She is the mother of German actress Alexandra von Koczian.^[1]

Selected filmography[link]

• Aren't We Wonderful? (1958)
• For the First Time (1959)
• The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1961)
• Derrick - Season 2, Episode 08: "Pfandhaus" (1975)
• Derrick - Season 3, Episode 05: "Schock" (1976)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Johanna von Koczian at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a German film actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e