German stamp: history and type of banknotes

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

After Europe's transition to a single currency, many countries abandoned their currency in favor of the euro. But among the currencies were those whose history spanned several centuries and was closely connected with the history of Europe itself. There were, of course, those whose history is not so great, but for many peoples is associated with years of financial success and stability. One of the brightest currencies that has survived the ups and downs, no doubt, can be called the German mark.

Start started

The history of the Deutsche Mark dates back to the end of the 19th century, after the unification of various German principalities into the German Empire. To be more precise, the gold mark appeared in 1873, and the Germans, with their inherent pedantry, even calculated the transition from many disparate currencies to a single one. The exchange rate was three silver thalers for one mark.

New Age

After the outbreak of the First World War, Germany abandoned the gold backing of the currency and changed the gold mark to paper. This German mark is perhaps the most unfortunate of all during the existence of the single German currency. It was at this time that Germany suffered enormous shocks, including unprecedented inflation in the early 20s of the twentieth century. The bills of that time were denominations of one, five, fiftymillion. Deutsche Marks (photo below) and the entire German people were truly experiencing one of the most severe economic crises of the 20th century. After all, the inflation rate was 25% per day, that is, prices doubled in 3 days. At this level of inflation, money was really nothing more than a piece of paper.

Photos of those years clearly testify to this. But back to the history of the German currency. In 1924, the Reichsmark was introduced in Germany (and pegged to gold). So, the value of the Reichsmark was one trillion paper marks! It existed until the end of the Second World War and continued its circulation during the years of occupation by the allied forces. The question of any reform, of course, was not of interest to any of the four allied countries that divided Germany into areas of responsibility. All this led to the emergence of a black market, in which more than half of all financial transactions took place, and rather unusual things served as a bargaining chip, sometimes it was American cigarettes. How much is the German mark of those years? If you wish, you will find many offers, and the price will vary depending, of course, on the quality and rarity of the bill.

New life

This went on until June 1948, when a new currency, the Deutschmark, was put into circulation on the territory of the Anglo-American zone. The monetary reform operation was prepared in the strictest secrecy, the banknotes themselves were printed in the USA, and they got to Germany through Spain. The transition to a new currency sharply depreciatedReichsmarks, which were still used in the zone of responsibility of the Soviet Union. The answer was not long in coming - Berlin was blocked, and in the end Germany was finally divided into two states. In fact, the division of Germany occurred as a result of the appearance of the Deutschmark. From that moment on, the German brand existed in both West and East Germany.

An era of stability

Already by the mid-50s, the Deutschmark had become a model of stability. As studies conducted in the late 70s showed, in almost 30 years the purchasing power of the brand fell by half, which, however, was one of the best results in the world. In the dollar, this figure fell by 60%, and the pound sterling lost more than 80%. Following the country (in 1990), the German brand again became one. Moreover, the amount of up to 4 thousand Eastern marks could be exchanged at the rate of one to one, which, by the way, caused a rather serious scandal between the German government and the Federal Bank. At the same time, every resident of East Germany who visited the western part of the country for the first time received one hundred Deutschmarks. However, even this did not shake the German mark. Throughout the last decade of the twentieth century, the German mark - Deutschmark - remained one of the most stable European currencies, successfully competing with the US dollar as a store of value.

Goodbye Mark

On January 1, 2002, the mark was changed to the euro. By the way, the historical rate of December 31, 2001: the German mark to the ruble is 13.54. Many Germans are reluctantparted with the national currency, and now a significant part of the German population hopes for its return.

Polls in 2010 showed that more than 50% of Germans surveyed were ready to forget about the euro and return to the mark. And in connection with the wave of defaults that has swept across Europe recently, the question of abandoning the single currency is being raised in Germany more and more often. However, the figures speak for the preservation of the euro. Thus, the inflation rate in Germany is 1.5%, starting from 2002, against 2.6% before the transition to a single currency. The German government is categorically against a return to the mark, but various options are still being discussed among various circles of the German population.