Ratzeburg. District museum commemorates the economic crisis and inflation in the 1920s. Cities and districts in Germany became “central banks”.
Own print moneywithout fear of Prison sentences? What may seem like a distant dream to many citizens today was bitter reality a century ago. However, it was not individuals or gangs who provided themselves with money bypassing the state. Institutions, cities, districts and municipal associations resorted to this method with the approval of the Reich government in Berlin.
Districts and cities print money themselves
Die galloping Inflation In the 1920s, money printed by the central bank lost value at such a rate that notes that would have been enough to buy a pair of shoes or a coat when printed were no longer enough to buy a single bread roll when they arrived. The Herzogtum Lauenburg District Museum in Ratzeburg is exhibiting a Emergency banknote over 20 billion marks, that’s a 2 with ten zeros.
First of all, the emergency money is still meticulously designed, like these 50-pfennig notes from the Eulenspiegel town of Mölln. © bgz | Ratzeburg District Museum
The note was printed in 1923 by the Lauenburg State Municipal Association. The First World War and the post-war years brought the German Reich an economic crisis and inflation that exceeded anything that had previously existed. During the World War, many Germans had subscribed to so-called war bonds, thereby helping the German Reich to finance the war.
With the defeat in 1918, not only did hopes of a decent return evaporate. The inflation that soon followed did the rest: financial assets became worthless within a short time. Many people and families who had hoped to use their savings to survive the rampant unemployment for a while were impoverished within a few days. Hunger drove many Germans to despair.
Only four weeks to redeem the money
The district museum is commemorating the time until August 31st with the “object of the month”, the emergency banknote from 1923. A look at the text shows how short-lived these measures were. “This voucher will be redeemed by the Lauenburgische Landesbank in Ratzeburg,” it reads. And: “It loses its validity if it is not presented for redemption within four weeks of the announcement.”
