Mark German: history and type of notes

After the transition of Europe to a single currency, many countries abandoned their monetary unit in favor of the euro. But among the currencies were those whose history numbered several centuries and was closely related to the history of Europe itself. There were, of course, those whose history is not so great, but for many people is associated with years of financial success and stability. One of the brightest currencies that has experienced ups and downs is undoubtedly the German brand.

The beginning of time

The history of the German brand dates back to the end of the 19th century, after the unification of the various German principalities into the German Empire. To be more precise, the gold stamp appeared in 1873, and the Germans, with their inherent pedantry, even calculated the transition from many disparate currencies to a single one. The course was as follows: three silver thalers per brand.

New Age

After the start of World War I, Germany renounced the gold provision of the currency and changed the gold mark to paper. This brand is German, perhaps the most unlucky of all during the existence of a single German currency. It was at this time that Germany suffered tremendous upheavals, including unprecedented inflation in the early 1920s of the twentieth century. The denominations of that time were par value of one, five, fifty million. German marks (photo below) and the entire German people were truly one of the most difficult economic crises of the 20th century. After all , the inflation rate was 25% per day, that is, prices grew by 3 days in 3 days. With this level of inflation, money really was nothing more than a sheet of paper. The photos of those years vividly testify to this. However, let us return to the history of the German currency. In 1924 on the territory of Germany was introduced Reichsmark (and tied to gold). So, the Reichsmark cost 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 zones 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 they were American cigarettes. How much is the German mark of those years? If you wish, you will find many proposals, and the price will vary depending, of course, on the quality and rarity of the note.

New life

This continued until June 1948, when a new currency, the Deutschmark, was put into circulation on the territory of the Anglo-American zone. The operation for monetary reform was prepared in strictest secrecy, the notes themselves were printed in the USA, and Germany was sent through Spain. The transition to a new currency sharply depreciated the Reichsmark, which was still used in the zone of responsibility of the Soviet Union. The answer was not long in coming: Berlin was blocked, and finally Germany was finally divided into two states. In fact, the division of Germany occurred as a consequence of the appearance of the dojmark. Since that moment, the German brand existed both in Western and Eastern Germany.

The Epoch of Stability

Already by the mid-1950s the dojmark became a model of stability. As studies conducted in the late 1970s showed, in almost 30 years the brand's purchasing power fell by half, which, however, was one of the best results in the world. The dollar fell by 60%, while the pound lost more than 80%. Following the country (in 1990) and the German brand again became one. And the amount of up to 4 thousand East marks could be exchanged at a rate of one to one which, by the way, caused a 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 dojchmarks. However, even this did not shake the German brand. During the last decade of the twentieth century, the German - Deutschmark brand - remained one of the most stable European currencies, successfully competing with the US dollar as a means of saving.

Farewell, brand

On January 1, 2002, the brand was replaced by the euro. By the way, the historical rate on December 31, 2001: the German mark to the ruble - 13.54. Many Germans reluctantly parted with the national currency, and now a large part of Germany's population hopes for its return. Polls in 2010 showed that more than 50% of Germans surveyed are ready to forget about the euro and return to the brand. And in connection with the wave of defaults that has taken place recently in Europe, the question of abandoning the single currency rises in Germany more and more often. However, the figures are 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 opposed to a return to the brand, but various options are still being discussed among different circles of the German population.