1923

Year of

Crises

To find out:

What inflation and Hyperinflation is

When Hyperinflation occurred within Germany

Images courtesy of M.Williams (NGfL Cymru)

July 1914 £1 = 20 marks

January 1919 £1 = 35 marks

January 1920 £1 = 256 marks

January 1921 £1 = 256 marks

January1922 £1 = 764 marks

January 1923 £1 = 71,888 marks

September 1923

£1 = 1,413,648 marks

October 1923 £1 = 3,954,408,000,000 marks

November 1923

£1 = 1,680,800,000,000,000 marks

When was this German banknote issued?

Use the table on the previous slide.

Roughly how many £’s was this banknote worth?

Click to see the back of the note

Stuck?

Berlin, 24th June 1919

This banknote was issued in Berlin on the 1st February 1923.

Roughly how many £’s was this banknote worth?

What does this tell you about the value of the German Mark in 1923 compared with 1919?

Use the number list below. How much is this bank note worth?

One Eine

Two Zwei

Three Drei

Four Vier

Five Funf

Six Sechs

Seven Sieben

Eight Acht

Nine Neun

Ten Zehn

Hundred Hundert

Thousand Tausend

Ten Thousand Zehntausend

One Hundred Thousand

Hunderttausend

One Million Eine Million

Use the number list below. How much is this bank note worth?

One Eine

Two Zwei

Three Drei

Four Vier

Five Funf

Six Sechs

Seven Sieben

Eight Acht

Nine Neun

Ten Zehn

Millions = Millionen

Which town does the note come from?

Can you find a date for when this banknote was issued?

Stadt = city or town

Stadt = city or town

Which town does the note come from?

This banknote was issued on the 25th September 1923.

10th August 1923 25th September 1923

What do these bank notes tell you about the rate of inflation

in Duisburg during the later part of 1923?

Hundred Hundert

Thousand Tausend

Million(s) Million(en)

Billion Millarden

One Eine

Two Zwei

Three Drei

Four Vier

Five Funf

Six Sechs

Seven Sieben

Eight Acht

Nine Neun

Ten Zehn

This note was issued in Altona on the 10th October, 1923.

This note was issued in Altona on the 10th October, 1923.

What does this tell you about the value of the Mark across

Germany by October 1923?

Inflation Table

What do all of the banknotes seen from 1923 tell you about the value of the German Mark during this year?

Discuss: What do you think could have been the cause

of such rapid inflation and hyperinflation?

Have you worked out what hyperinflation means yet?

A period of rapidly accelerating inflation where the price of goods rises continuously

and dramatically.

Money looses its value and goods become more wildly more expensive.

German Notes

http://www.germannotes.com/

The introduction to the site states: “Find out about German Paper

Money, history and facts about German banknotes and their historical

context. A vast amount of banknotes have been issued in Germany and

its regions. They are a mirror of German history, culture and politics.”

For further examples of German banknotes from this period you may like to visit:

For further information on this period of German History you could visit:

www.historylearningsite.co.uk/hyperinf.htm

END

July 1914 £1 = 20 marks

January 1919 £1 = 35 marks

January 1920 £1 = 256 marks

January 1921 £1 = 256 marks

January1922 £1 = 764 marks

January 1923 £1 = 71,888 marks

September 1923

£1 = 1,413,648 marks

October 1923 £1 = 3,954,408,000,000 marks

November 1923

£1 = 1,680,800,000,000,000 marks

BACK