Weimar Germany Reichsbanknote, 2 million mark
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 3.125 inches (7.938 cm) | Width: 4.875 inches (12.383 cm)
Creator(s)
- Reichsbankdirektorium (Issuer)
Archival History
The currency was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Joel Forman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joel Forman
Scope and Content
Reichsbank note, valued at 2 million marks, distributed in Germany from August to November 1923. German efforts to finance World War I sent the nation into debt. Following their defeat, the Treaty of Versailles obligated Germany to pay reparations to several countries, which increased the nation’s financial struggles. The German government attempted to solve this problem by printing more money, which led to severe inflation. The inflation grew to critical levels between 1922 and1923, when the exchange rate of the mark to the United States dollar went from 2,000 marks per dollar to well over a million in a matter of months. The government printed higher and higher denominations, but was unable to keep up with the plunging rates. Germans began using the worthless bills as kindling, wallpaper, and children’s crafts. The emerging National Socialist German Worker’s (Nazi) Party frequently used the bills to their advantage, writing anti-Semitic messages on them, which blamed Jews for Germany’s financial problems. In order to stabilize the economy, the German government established the Rentenbank. The new Minister of Finance, Hans Luther, created the Rentenmark, which was backed by mortgages on all real property in Germany, rather than gold. The Rentenmark was valued at 4.2 marks to one U.S. dollar, and its introduction on November 16, 1923, successfully ended the inflation crisis. Despite this, the Nazi Party continued to use people’s residual economic fears as a propaganda tool to gain power, eventually leading to Adolf Hitler becoming Chancellor in 1933.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Reichsbanknote printed in black ink on lightweight, rectangular, cream-colored paper with a diamond pattern watermark. On the face, there is a vertical geometric medallion consisting of several overlapping, circular elements printed in purple ink on the right end. German text is printed in fraktur-style font across the center of the note and in five, vertically-aligned lines in the lower left corner. There are 12 signatures centered at the bottom and flanked by the Reichsbankdirektorium seal bearing a left-facing Reichsadler surrounded by German text, on either side. The back is blank. The note has a vertical center crease, creasing in the lower right corner, and staining along the bottom border.
People
- Luther, Hans, 1879-1962.
Subjects
- Economics.
- Paper money--Germany.
- Germany.
- Banks and banking, German
- Germany--Politics and government--1918-1933--Economic aspects.
- Inflation (Finance)--Germany.
Genre
- Exchange Media
- Object
- Money.