This is a must-read for better insight as to what happened during the Weimar hyperinflationary collapse from the perspective of people living during that era. The hardcover edition of this book is out-of-print and a collector's item.
I want to highlight some great passages from the book. There's even an account from young Ernest Hemingway while he was working for the Toronto Daily Star of his encounter in the country during a visit to Germany with his wife.
Excerpts:
The kronen and heller have been changed into schillings and groschen.* (Their issue in silver and copper coins rather than paper was to encourage thrift and restore confidence. The change of style was to get rid of large figures.) It is a drastic change. For 15,000 kronen we get — one schilling! Thousands of Austrians have been reduced during the last days to beggary. All who were not clever enough to hoard the forbidden stable currencies or gold have, without exception, suffered losses. An old married couple with whom I have been friendly for years had a holding of government stock amounting to 2 million pre-war kronen which brought them in interest 80,000 pre-war kronen a year [more than £3,200]. They were rich people. Today their stock brings them in 8 new schillings a year. Panic has seized the Stock Exchange. My millions have dwindled to about a thousand new schillings. We belong to the new poor. The middle class has been reduced to the proletariate. More fighting — daily, repeated, exasperated, demoralising, offensive and defensive fighting of man against man. I feel that my strength is deserting me. I cannot go on …
However, the more immediate result was to turn the populace against authority of all kind; and the unavailability of currency drove frantic not only the Ruhr workless for whom the dole, now at 2 million marks a day, was barely adequate, but the workers who struggled ineffectually throughout the rest of — the occupied areas to bring home a living wage.
In the Belgian zone pillaging of crops threatened the harvest. West of Cologne, where looting, strikes and riots were increasing day by day, huge bands of protesters took to roving the countryside destroying crops and farm buildings. At Aachen, 12 demonstrators were killed and 80 wounded in local disorders arising from wage demands. The brown-coal miners of Bergheim (in the British zone) went on prolonged strike after a succession of wild-cat stoppages and threats to burn factories and smash machinery. Police had to disperse 3,000 paper workers at Mulheim, and a mob of unemployed at Solingen raided the market and forced dealers to reduce potato prices by half.
Must-read...
When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson
I want to highlight some great passages from the book. There's even an account from young Ernest Hemingway while he was working for the Toronto Daily Star of his encounter in the country during a visit to Germany with his wife.
Excerpts:
The kronen and heller have been changed into schillings and groschen.* (Their issue in silver and copper coins rather than paper was to encourage thrift and restore confidence. The change of style was to get rid of large figures.) It is a drastic change. For 15,000 kronen we get — one schilling! Thousands of Austrians have been reduced during the last days to beggary. All who were not clever enough to hoard the forbidden stable currencies or gold have, without exception, suffered losses. An old married couple with whom I have been friendly for years had a holding of government stock amounting to 2 million pre-war kronen which brought them in interest 80,000 pre-war kronen a year [more than £3,200]. They were rich people. Today their stock brings them in 8 new schillings a year. Panic has seized the Stock Exchange. My millions have dwindled to about a thousand new schillings. We belong to the new poor. The middle class has been reduced to the proletariate. More fighting — daily, repeated, exasperated, demoralising, offensive and defensive fighting of man against man. I feel that my strength is deserting me. I cannot go on …
However, the more immediate result was to turn the populace against authority of all kind; and the unavailability of currency drove frantic not only the Ruhr workless for whom the dole, now at 2 million marks a day, was barely adequate, but the workers who struggled ineffectually throughout the rest of — the occupied areas to bring home a living wage.
In the Belgian zone pillaging of crops threatened the harvest. West of Cologne, where looting, strikes and riots were increasing day by day, huge bands of protesters took to roving the countryside destroying crops and farm buildings. At Aachen, 12 demonstrators were killed and 80 wounded in local disorders arising from wage demands. The brown-coal miners of Bergheim (in the British zone) went on prolonged strike after a succession of wild-cat stoppages and threats to burn factories and smash machinery. Police had to disperse 3,000 paper workers at Mulheim, and a mob of unemployed at Solingen raided the market and forced dealers to reduce potato prices by half.
Must-read...
When Money Dies by Adam Fergusson
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