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75-751: In 1950 the American people had donated $ 5 million (= DM 21 million; so-called McCloy Grant) for cultural purposes in recognition of the West Berliners' keeping up during the Berlin Blockade , which took place in 1948/1949. With DM 5.4 million (=$ 1.285 million) from the grant, and additionally the same sum from its own funds, the Senate of Berlin built the new library on Blücherplatz in Kreuzberg . On 10 September 1954 it opened to become Berlin's central public library. With

150-519: A Braille representation of the notes denomination), colour-shifting ink (on the DM ;500 and DM 1000 denominations), a see-through registration device and ultraviolet-visible security features. First to be issued were the DM 100 and DM 200 denominations on 1 October 1990 (although the banknote shows " Frankfurt am Main , 2. Januar 1989"). The next denomination was DM 10 on 16 April 1991, followed by DM 50 on 30 September 1991. Next

225-438: A pound sterling . In Scotland, the merk Scots was a silver coin, issued first in 1570 and afterwards in 1663. It was originally worth 13 s. 6 d. , later increased to 14 s. . Originally, Mark denoted a mass unit of approximately 234 g (8.3 oz). The mark used in the market of Cologne ( Cologne mark : 233.856 g, 8.2490 oz) was used to define the value of the official gold and silver currencies of

300-717: A colorless inorganic oxide mixture applied to the security thread. Banknotes featuring that were designated BBk Ia within the Bundesbank. All banknotes of the third series bore the penalty for counterfeiting and forgery on the upper right corner of the reverse, from German penal code section 146: " Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfälscht, oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus/Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft. " ("Who falsifies or counterfeits banknotes, or procures falsified or counterfeit banknotes and releases them into circulation,

375-472: A credit balance. The account holders could use their credit balances by remittances to other accounts or by drawing bills of exchange against them. These bills circulated and could be transferred by endorsement , and were accepted as payment. They could also be redeemed. This currency proved to be very stable. Following German unification in 1871, the country adopted the German gold mark (officially known just as

450-452: A greatly expanded market for German exports. Overnight, consumer goods appeared in the stores, because they could be sold for higher prices. While the availability of consumer goods is seen as a giant success story by most historians of the present, the perception at the time was a different one: prices were so high that average people could not afford to shop, especially since prices were free-ranging but wages still fixed by law. Therefore, in

525-473: A merging of three Germanic words, Latinised in 9th-century post-classical Latin as marca , marcha , marha or marcus . It was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout Europe and often equivalent to 8 troy ounces (250 g). Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages . As of 2022 the only circulating currency named "mark"

600-714: A mint mark, indicating where the coin was minted. D indicates Munich, F Stuttgart, G Karlsruhe and J Hamburg. Coins minted during the Second World War include the mint marks A (Berlin) and B (Vienna). The mint mark A was also used for German mark coins minted in Berlin beginning in 1990 following the reunification of Germany. These mint marks have been continued on the German euro coins . Between 1 July 1990 (the currency union with East Germany ) and 1 July 1991, East German coins in denominations up to 50 pfennig s continued to circulate as Deutsche Mark coins at their face value, owing to

675-635: A rate of 1:1 for the first M 4,000 and 2:1 for larger amounts. Before reunification, each citizen of East Germany coming to West Germany was given Begrüßungsgeld (welcome money), a per capita allowance of DM 100 in cash. The government of Germany and the Bundesbank were in major disagreement over the exchange rate between the East German mark and the German mark. France and the United Kingdom were opposed to German reunification, and attempted to influence

750-549: A rather short life. While previously damaged notes could be replaced from reserve stocks, this stock was also coming to an end, necessitating a reprint. Typical security features at the time were guilloches, a multi-level head watermark and a security thread. Note numbers that fluoresced under UV light and green, yellow, and blue. 27 fluorescent fibers embedded in the paper appeared on most banknotes; however, some specimens without these features were in circulation. Starting in 1976, banknotes were equipped with machine-readable feature -

825-540: A small number of D-Mark coins or bills, e.g. Gib mir mal ein paar Märker ("Just give me a few marks") and Die lieben Märker wieder ("The lovely money again", with an ironic undertone). The subdivision unit is spelled Pfennig ( masc. ; [ˈpfɛnɪç] ), which unlike Mark does have a commonly used plural form: Pfennige ( [ˈpfɛnɪɡə] ), but the singular could also be used instead with no difference in meaning. (e.g.: ein (one) Pfennig , dreißig (thirty) Pfennige or dreißig (thirty) Pfennig ). The official form

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900-410: A temporary shortage of small coins. These coins were legal tender only in the territory of the former East Germany. In colloquial German the 10pf coin was sometimes called a groschen (compare: groat ). Likewise, sechser ('sixer') could refer to a coin of 5pf. Both colloquialisms refer to several pre-1871 currencies of the previously independent states (notably Prussia ), where a groschen

975-445: A variety of courses, including homework support, are provided, in addition to the pro bono legal service and the “How to write application” course. 52°29′47″N 13°23′30″E  /  52.4964°N 13.3917°E  / 52.4964; 13.3917 Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark ( German: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈmaʁk] ; "German mark "), abbreviated " DM " or " D-Mark " ( [ˈdeːˌmaʁk] ),

1050-497: A weak currency, colloquially referred to as the paper mark ( Papiermark ), to finance the war effort. In 1918, the pre-war sound money policy was not re-established, and the continuing loose money policy resulted in inflation, and in 1923, in hyperinflation . In late 1923 when the paper mark had become virtually worthless, it was replaced by a new currency, the Rentenmark (worth 1 trillion Papiermark ). The new currency

1125-535: Is compared to other currencies, as in its 53-year history, the purchasing power of the German mark was reduced by over 70%. The first Deutsche Mark coins were issued by the Bank deutscher Länder in 1948 and 1949. From 1950, the inscription Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany) appeared on the coins. These coins were issued in denominations of 1pf, 2pf, 5pf, 10pf, and 50pf. The 1pf and 2pf coins were struck in bronze clad steel (although during some years

1200-494: Is intended for circulation. Commemorative silver DM10 coins have also been issued which have periodically found their way into circulation. Unlike other European countries, Germany retained the use of the smallest coins (1pf and 2pf) until adoption of the euro. denomination below denomination below The weights and dimensions of the coins can be found in an FAQ of the Bundesbank . Unlike other countries (such as Australia) there

1275-802: Is liable to imprisonment for at least two years". The third series banknotes entered circulation on 10 February 1961, with the DM 20 note. DM 100 and DM 50 followed next year, and DM 5 and DM 10 in 1963. High-denomination DM 1000 and DM 500 followed in 1964 and 1965, respectively. The banknotes were printed exclusively in West Germany; in Bundesdruckerei in West Berlin and in Giesecke+Devrient in Munich . The third series banknotes ceased to be legal tender on 30 June 1995, when

1350-547: Is part of a proper name, while the noun "Mark", like all German nouns, is always capitalized. The English loanword "Deutschmark" has a slightly different spelling and one syllable fewer (possibly due to the frequency of silent e in English, or due to English's lack of adjectival endings), and a plural form in -s . In Germany and other German speaking countries, the currency's name was often abbreviated as D-Mark ( fem. , [ˈdeːmaʁk] ) or simply Mark ( fem. ) with

1425-519: Is singular. Before the switch to the euro, the Deutsche Mark was the largest international reserve currency after the United States dollar . The percental composition of currencies of official foreign exchange reserves from 1995 to 2022. Mark (currency) The mark was a currency or unit of account in many states. It is named for the mark unit of weight . The word mark comes from

1500-556: Is the Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark . "Mark" can refer In England the "mark" never appeared as a coin but was only a unit of account . It was apparently introduced in the 10th century by the Danes . According to 19th century sources, it was initially equivalent to 100 pence , but after the Norman Conquest (1066), it was worth 160 pence (13 shillings and 4 pence), two-thirds of

1575-760: The Rentenmark and the Reichsmark . Banknotes worth 15 to 18 bn military marks were issued for purchases by the occupying forces in Germany, and for soldiers' wages. In June 1948, military marks were demonetised as part of the West German and East German currency reforms. In June 1947 the French occupying force in the Saar Protectorate introduced the Saar mark , which was at par with

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1650-737: The Rentenmark and the Reichsmark . In November 1947, it was replaced by the Saar franc . On 21 June 1948 the Deutsche Mark (German mark) was introduced by the Bank deutscher Länder in the western zones of occupation in Germany, which then formed West Germany . On 23 June 1948 the Deutsche Emissions- und Girobank ("German bank of issue and giro centre") of the Soviet occupation zone (which later formed East Germany ) followed suit, issuing its own Deutsche Mark (colloquially referred to as

1725-525: The Deutsche Bundesbank . The Deutsche Mark earned a reputation as a strong store of value at times when other national currencies succumbed to periods of inflation . It became a source of national pride and an anchor for the country's economic prosperity, particularly during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1950s. The population in the Saar Protectorate rejected in a referendum

1800-497: The East German mark or Ostmark ), later officially called Mark der Deutschen Notenbank (1964–1967) and then Mark der DDR (1968–1990). It was replaced by the (West) German mark when Germany was reunified in 1990. The German mark was replaced by the euro , first as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, at a conversion rate of 1.95583 marks per euro. Thereafter, the mark-denominated notes and coins represented

1875-572: The French franc . On 9 July 1959 the Deutsche Mark replaced the Saar franc at a ratio of 100 francs = DM 0.8507. The Deutsche Mark played an important role in the reunification of Germany. It was introduced as the official currency of East Germany in July 1990, replacing the East German mark ( Mark der DDR ), in preparation for unification on 3 October 1990. East German marks were exchanged for Deutsche Marks at

1950-641: The German gold mark was based on gold rather than silver (at 2.79 marks per gram of fine gold), a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 marks = 1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion. The first mark, known as the Goldmark , was introduced in 1873. With the outbreak of World War I , the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark , especially as high inflation , then hyperinflation occurred and

2025-734: The Holy Roman Empire including the Reichsthaler silver coin. In 1566, a Reichsthaler was introduced of which 9 were to be minted from a Cologne mark of fine silver . In northern Germany (especially Hamburg and Lübeck ) as well as in much of trade in the Baltic region, the customary unit of account was the mark valued at 1 ⁄ 3 of a Reichsthaler. Marks were rarely minted, though. Instead, schilling coins were minted with 48 schillings representing one Reichsthaler; i.e. 16 schillings equaled one mark. In an attempt to prevent debasement of

2100-612: The Ostmark —literally Eastmark ) was introduced a few days afterwards in the form of Reichsmark and Rentenmark notes with adhesive stamps to stop the flooding in of Reichsmark and Rentenmark notes from the West. In July 1948, a completely new series of East German mark banknotes was issued. Later in 1948, the Bank deutscher Länder ("Bank of the German States") assumed responsibility, followed in 1957 by

2175-626: The Soviet Union to stop it. However, in late 1989 France extracted German commitment to the Monetary Union in return for support for German reunification. The German mark had a reputation as one of the world's most stable currencies; this was based on the monetary policy of the Bundesbank . The policy was "hard" in relation to the policies of certain other central banks in Europe. The "hard" and "soft"

2250-460: The "mark") as its currency in 1873. The name was taken from the mark banco. Initially, the coins and banknotes of the various predecessor currencies, such as the thaler , the kreuzer , and the guilder , continued to circulate, and were treated as fixed multiples of the new unit of account, similarly to the introduction period of the euro between 1999 and 2002. Coins denominated in gold marks were first issued in 1871, and gradually replaced

2325-448: The 2pf was issued in solid bronze) while 5pf and 10pf were brass clad steel and the 50-pfennig was in cupronickel . In 1950, cupronickel DM1 coins were released, while a cupronickel DM2 and a .625 silver DM5 were released in 1951. Cupronickel replaced silver in the DM5 in 1975. The DM2 and DM5 coins have often been used for commemorative themes, though typically only the generic design for the DM5

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2400-525: The Allies each zone was governed independently as regards monetary matters. The US occupation policy was governed by the directive JCS 1067 (in effect until July 1947), which forbade the US military governor "to take any steps to strengthen German financial structure". As a consequence a separate monetary reform in the U.S. zone was not possible. Each of the Allies printed its own occupation currency . The Deutsche Mark

2475-403: The Bundesbank decided to issue a new series of Deutsche Mark banknotes. The colours for each denomination remained unchanged from the previous series but the designs underwent significant changes and a DM 200 denomination was introduced. Famous national artists and scientists were chosen to be portrayed on the new banknotes. Male and female artists were chosen in equal numbers. The buildings in

2550-438: The Bundesbank in Germany. Banknotes and coins can even be sent to the Bundesbank by mail. In 2012, it was estimated that as many as 13.2 billion marks were in circulation, with one poll from 2011 showing a narrow majority of Germans favouring the currency's restoration (although only a minority believed this would bring any economic benefit). Polls in the early 2020s indicated only a minority of Germans supported reintroduction of

2625-680: The City of Berlin sponsored an invited competition for a 150,000-square-foot addition to the library. The original library had been built as a result of a German competition with American funds. This competition was funded by the German Government with the ambition to select an American-based architect. Fifteen American firms were invited to participate. The jury selected three first prizes: Steven Holl , Lars Lerup and Karen Van Lengen. One year later after two additional rounds of refinements and presentations an international jury selected Karen Van Lengen as

2700-618: The DM 5 coin used to be also called a Heiermann , whereas in Bavaria the DM 2 coin was called Zwickl and this expression is now used for the €2 coin in the region. There were four series of German mark banknotes: The notes with a value greater than DM 200 were rarely seen. A reserve series (BBk II) was commissioned on 1 July 1960, consisting of DM 10, DM 20, DM 50 and DM 100 banknotes. 670 million BBk II banknotes in value of 25 billion marks were printed. The notes were printed between 1963 and 1974 in fear if

2775-577: The Deutsche Mark. A mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, the most common being the North German thaler and the South German gulden . By 1857, both currencies were linked to the Vereinsthaler , a silver coin containing 16 + 2 ⁄ 3 grams of pure silver. Although

2850-541: The Eastern Bloc would start systematically counterfeiting the BBk I series of banknotes to cripple the economy, then they would quickly be replaced by emergency notes. Another reserve series for West Berlin (BBk IIa) was commissioned on 1 July 1963, consisting of DM 5, DM 10, DM 20, DM 50 and DM 100 banknotes. 115 million West Berlin banknotes were printed, total value 4 billion marks. 15 billion marks worth of

2925-564: The Federal Republic of Germany's official currency from its founding the following year. On 31 December 1998, the Council of the European Union fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German mark to euros as DM 1.95583 = €1. In 1999, the Deutsche Mark was replaced by the euro; its coins and banknotes remained in circulation, defined in terms of euros, until

3000-734: The Kleist Archive, the Arno Holz Archive, the Willibald Alexis Archive, music of the U.S. and “Kunst der jungen Generation” (“Young Generation’s Art”). The children's library and its youth department, “Hallescher Komet”, is named after the library's location at the metro station Hallesches Tor , while also being a pun on the German name of Halley's Comet , Halleyscher Komet . The Youth Information Center offers advice, entertainment, and information regarding routine problems. Additionally, extracurricular leisure time facilities and

3075-472: The Nazis, and which the Allies had not removed. He did this, as he often confessed, on Sunday because the offices of the American, British, and French occupation authorities were closed that day. He was sure that if he had done it when they were open, they would have countermanded the order. The introduction of the new currency was intended to protect western Germany from a second wave of hyperinflation and to stop

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3150-507: The U.S. and Britain launched an airlift of food and coal and distributed the new currency in West Berlin as well. Since the 1930s, prices and wages had been controlled, but money had been plentiful. That meant that people had accumulated large paper assets, and that official prices and wages did not reflect reality, as the black market dominated the economy and more than half of all transactions were taking place unofficially. The reform replaced

3225-458: The advance of forgery technology, the Bundesbank decided to introduce additional security features on the most important denominations (DM 50, DM 100 and DM 200) as of 1996. These were a hologram foil in the center of the note's obverse, a matted printing on the note's right obverse, showing its denomination (like on the reverse of the new euro banknotes ), and the EURion constellation on

3300-495: The background of the notes' obverses had a close relationship to the person displayed (e.g., place of birth, place of death, place of work), as well as the second background picture (Lyra and the musician Schumann). The reverses of the notes refer to the work of the person on the obverse. The new security features were: a windowed security thread (with the notes' denominations in microprinting), watermarks, microprinting, intaglio printing (viewing-angle dependent visibility as well as

3375-606: The banknotes were held in Bundesbank's custom-built underground bunker in Cochem in Rheinland-Pfalz , the rest was stored in Bundesbank's vault in Frankfurt . In 1957, with Bank deutscher Länder and the states' central banks merging to form the Bundesbank, new banknotes were being designed, as "Bank deutscher Länder" on the previous series was no longer correct. The previous series' notes had been made out of less durable paper and had

3450-610: The construction of the Berlin Wall and the separation of the city in 1961, this concept lapsed. The library was then the major public library in West Berlin. A third of the users were local Kreuzbergers who prior used to frequent one of the four smaller public libraries in their borough. Part of the attractiveness of the AGB derived from it being an American-type open access library, whereas most of Berlin's other libraries held by then only small shares of their bookstock in open access, usually only

3525-564: The currency became exclusively made up of paper money. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark (RM) from 15 November 1923, and the Reichsmark (ℛ︁ℳ︁) in 1924. During the first two years of occupation the occupying powers of France, United Kingdom, United States, and the Soviet Union were not able to successfully negotiate a possible currency reform in Germany. Due to the strains between

3600-523: The currency by the influx of adulterated coins, the Hamburger Bank was founded in 1619. It was modeled after the example of the Bank of Amsterdam . Both these banks established a stable money of account . The Hamburg unit of account was the mark banco . It was credited in exchange for the sale of bullion or by way of credit against collateral. No coins or banknotes were issued, but accounts were opened showing

3675-649: The divided country. Today, the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek, the Berlin City Library and the Berlin Senate Library form the Berlin Central and Regional Library ( German : Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin ). The Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek hosts collections of the humanities and social sciences. Special collections that enrich the basic portfolio include “Berolinensien”, old children's books,

3750-401: The economy for long. The start of World War II was used to justify general price controls and rationing. Thus inflation was officially hidden, and was expressed as ever-growing aggregate savings of the population, which could only spend its earnings on limited rations of goods at artificially low prices. However, inflation could clearly be seen in the rising prices on the black market . During

3825-652: The economy. The currency reforms were simultaneous with the $ 1.4 billion in Marshall Plan money coming in from the United States, which primarily was used for investment. In addition, the Marshall plan forced German companies, as well as those in all of Western Europe, to modernize their business practices, and take account of the wider market. Marshall plan funding overcame bottlenecks in the surging economy caused by remaining controls (which were removed in 1949), and opened up

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3900-505: The euro at that conversion rate, and remained legal tender until 1 January 2002, when they were replaced by euro notes and coins. Germany mints its own German euro coins , but all euro coins are legal tender throughout the Eurozone . The remaining convertible mark of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a currency that officially replaced the German mark as de facto currency of the ruptured economy and hyper-inflation of local divided currencies after

3975-475: The final winner. By 1992, Van Lengen's firm completed almost 75% of the design work before the City of Berlin cancelled the project due to lack of funding. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall and its accompanying unexpected financial challenges, the city abandoned plans for the library expansion. On its 50th birthday, the library was honored for having been a symbol of freedom in times of political instability and

4050-453: The fourth series notes had been in circulation for 3–5 years. There were a total of five issues of the third series, main differences being the dates, and signatures of the Presidents and Vice Presidents of Bundesbank: The design of German banknotes remained unchanged during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. During this period, forgery technology made significant advances and so, in the late 1980s,

4125-549: The introduction of euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. The Deutsche Mark ceased to be legal tender immediately upon the introduction of the euro—in contrast to the other eurozone states, where the euro and legacy currency circulated side by side for up to two months. Mark coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany until 1 March 2002. The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all German marks in cash form may be changed into euros indefinitely, and one may do so in person at any branch of

4200-414: The latter term also often used in English. Like Deutsche Mark , D-Mark and Mark do not take the plural in German when used with numbers (like all names of units), the singular being used to refer to any amount of money (e.g. eine (one) Mark and dreißig (thirty) Mark ). Sometimes, a very colloquial plural form of Mark , Märker [ˈmɛʁkɐ] was used either as hypocoristic form or to refer to

4275-559: The non-lending collection. So opening the AGB again gave the Berlin libraries another push forwards in their development. On 31 March 1955, after years of campaigning, Alexander Dehms (1904–1979; head of Kreuzberg's public libraries from 1949 to 1969 and member of the House of Representatives of Berlin ), succeeded in putting the Berliner Büchereigesetz (Berlin Library Act) through which provided for an expansion, better funding and improved equipment of West Berlin's public libraries through budgetary items earmarked for libraries. In 1988

4350-410: The note's reverse. Furthermore, the colours were changed slightly to hamper counterfeiting. The German name of the currency is Deutsche Mark ( fem. , German pronunciation: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈmaʁk] ); its plural form in standard German is the same as the singular. In German, the adjective "deutsche" (adjective for "German" in feminine singular nominative form) is capitalized because it

4425-445: The old coins. The mark banco was converted into the new gold mark at par. The Bank of Hamburg was incorporated as the Hamburg subsidiary into the newly founded Reichsbank (established 1876), issuing banknotes denominated in gold marks. In 1914 the Reichsbank stopped demanding first-class collateral (e.g. good bills of exchange, covered bonds such as Pfandbriefe ) when providing credit to borrowers. The gold mark became

4500-406: The old money with the new Deutsche Mark at the rate of one new per ten old. This wiped out 90% of government and private debt, as well as private savings. Prices were decontrolled, and labor unions agreed to accept a 15% wage increase, despite the 25% rise in prices. The result was the prices of German export products held steady, while profits and earnings from exports soared and were poured back into

4575-412: The proposal to turn it into a "European territory". Despite French pre-referendum claims that a "no" vote would mean that the Saar would remain a French protectorate it in fact resulted in the incorporation of the Saar into the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 January 1957. The new German member state of the Saarland maintained its currency, the Saar franc , which was in a currency union at par with

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4650-424: The rampant barter and black market trade (where cigarettes were used as currency). Although the new currency was initially only distributed in the three western occupation zones outside Berlin, the move angered the Soviet authorities, who regarded it as a threat. The Soviets promptly cut off all road, rail and canal links between the three western zones and West Berlin , starting the Berlin Blockade . In response,

4725-435: The reverse, which read Deutsche Bundesbank (instead of Bundesrepublik Deutschland ), as the Bundesbank was the issuing authority in this case. A total of one million gold DM 1 coins were minted (200,000 at each of the five mints) and were sold beginning in mid-2001 through German coin dealers on behalf of the Bundesbank . The issue price varied by the dealer but averaged approximately US$ 165. German coins bear

4800-446: The stable Rentenmark . The currencies continued to exist in parallel, and were both abbreviated RM. The original intention was to withdraw the Rentenmark by 1934, but the National Socialist government decided to continue to use the Rentenmark , which enjoyed a considerable trust due to its stability. Nevertheless, the National Socialist government deliberately overissued both currencies to finance infrastructure investments by

4875-402: The state, and expanded government employment and expenditure on items such as armaments. By 1935, laws limiting increases of prices, wages, and rents were needed to suppress inflation. Enormous extra taxes, charged on real estate owners ( RM 1 bn in 1936), and on the occasion of the anti-Semitic November Pogrom ( Kristallnacht ), on Jewish Germans ( RM 1 bn in 1938), could not stabilise

4950-405: The status of legal tender but were rarely seen outside of collectors' circles. On 27 December 2000, the German government enacted a law authorizing the Bundesbank to issue, in 2001, a special .999 pure gold DM 1 coin commemorating the end of the German mark. The coin had the exact design and dimensions of the circulating cupro-nickel DM 1 coin, with the exception of the inscription on

5025-484: The summer of 1948 a giant wave of strikes and demonstrations swept over West Germany, leading to an incident in Stuttgart where strikers were met by US tanks ("Stuttgarter Vorfälle"). Only after the wage-freeze was abandoned, Deutschmark and free-ranging prices were accepted by the population. In the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (later the German Democratic Republic ), the East German mark (also named "Deutsche Mark" from 1948 to 1964 and colloquially referred to as

5100-426: The war, the German economy was supported by war booty taken from occupied countries, continuing to some extent until 1944. By the end of the war, the oversupply of banknotes and coins ( RM 3.9 bn in 1933, RM 60 bn in 1945) became obvious, openly showing up in inflated black market prices. From 1944 the Allies printed occupation marks (also called military marks ), decreeing that these were to be accepted at par with

5175-417: Was in respect to the aims of inflation and political interference. This policy was the foundation of the European Central Bank 's present policy towards the euro. The German mark's stability was greatly apparent in 1993, when speculation on the French franc and other European currencies caused a change in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism . However, it should be remembered that "hard" is relative only if it

5250-427: Was issued by the newly established Rentenbank as credit to borrowers, but requiring collateral in the form of first-class claims to real estate. In 1924 the Reichsbank stopped providing unrestricted credit against worthless financial bills, and pegged its new currency, the Reichsmark , to the stable Rentenmark . The Reichsbank rationed its lending, so that the Reichsmark remained at par with

5325-496: Was no attempt or proposal suggested for the withdrawal of the 1pf and 2pf coins. Both coins were still in circulation in 2001 and supermarkets in particular still marked prices to the nearest pfennig. This penchant for accuracy continues with the euro (while Finland or the Netherlands for example, price to the nearest 5 cents) with the 1-cent coin still encountered in Germany. There were a considerable number of commemorative silver DM 5 and DM 10 coins , which actually had

5400-405: Was officially introduced on Sunday 20 June 1948 by Ludwig Erhard . Large amounts were exchanged for 10 ℛ︁ℳ︁ to 65pf. In addition, each person received a per capita allowance of DM 60 in two parts, the first being DM 40 and the second DM 20. A few weeks later Erhard, acting against orders, issued an edict abolishing many economic controls which had been originally implemented by

5475-436: Was subdivided into 12 pfennig s, hence half a groschen into 6. After 1871, 12 old pfennig s would be converted into 10pf of the mark, hence 10pf coins inherited the groschen name and 5pf coins inherited the sechser name. Both usages are only regional and may not be understood in areas where a groschen coin did not exist before 1871. In particular, the usage of sechser is less widespread. In northern Germany

5550-472: Was the DM 20 note on 20 March 1992 (printed on 2 August 1991). The reason for this gradual introduction was, that public should become familiar with one single denomination, before introducing a new one. The change was finished with the introduction of the DM 5, DM 500, and DM 1000 denominations on 27 October 1992. The DM 500, and DM 1000 denominations were rarely seen in circulation due to value and all were introduced in one step. With

5625-463: Was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was typically called the " Deutschmark " ( / ˈ d ɔɪ tʃ m ɑːr k / DOYTCH -mark ). One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 pfennigs . It was first issued under Allied occupation in 1948 to replace the Reichsmark and served as

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