East German Mitropa Sleeping Car Token

This interesting token is from East Germany and was issued in the 1950's by the Mitropa company which ran all the sleeping and restaurant cars operated by the East German Railways. The value is 50 pfennige and it was used by sleeping car passengers to obtain bedding on the various services that Mitropa operated to the other Soviet Bloc countries and to the West.

The passenger purchased a token at the departure station and presented it to the sleeping car conductor in exchange for his bedding.

Mitropa itself was formed way back in 1916 and when Germany was divided in 1945 it remained the sleeping and dining car company in East Germany. Uniquely it remained a shareholder corporation throughout the communist era. In 1927 Mitropa had purchased a private franchise that rented out pillows and blankets to passengers, and carried on the service for many years.

Pre-WWII Mitropa tokens use a different design and script and this type is definitely from the early DDR period.

The other side of the token is identical.