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GERMAN NOTGELD notes by Charles R. Jansen, Ph.D. What is Notgeld ? How was Notgeld used? Type of Notgeld Notgeld as a reflection of its times Historically, Notgeld (both in its existence and its imagery) reflects the post-war economic degradation which impoverished and embittered Germany. "[World War I], the post-war crisis and the effects of the Versailles peace terms were the Main/Index causes of the inflation which began in Germany in 1920. Unemployment, hunger and price rises took hold. By 1 May 1920 food prices had already escalated by comparison with July 1914: margarine from 1.60 Marks per kilo to 37.50 Marks butter from 2.72 Marks per kilo to 45.00 Marks wheat flour from 0.40 Marks per kilo to 2.80 Marks bread from 0.23 Marks per kilo to 2.37 Marks . . . . When inflation reached its peak in the autumn of 1923, a million-Mark bank note would not even buy a slice of bread" (Schrader and Schebera, 1988, p. 74). Politically, Notgeld reveals the deep ideological divisions which became sharper as inflationary woes increased. Compared to the leftward leanings of the Weimar government, the home fronts of the provinces -- where Notgeld was conceived and circulated -- leaned strongly to the right. The sentiments found in Notgelds words and images consoled conservative forces within the Weimar Republic and may have provided some shelter for the right wing judiciary that did little to curb the cycle of political assassinations that marked the early Weimar Period. Socially, Notgeld played an important role in the period immediately following the Great War. Appealing deeply to a German Romanticism that touted the virtues of hearth and home, Notgeld was instrumental in constructing a reality that insulated German citizens from the remarkable violence of the times while at the same time suggesting ways of coping with the disintegrating social fabric. Indeed, Notgeld exhibits the sort of sentiments which Hitler made central to his image of the Third Reich. Amid the complexities of transition to a republic and the continually shifting factions that weakened the central government, regional interests and their historical underpinnings reMain/Indexed something of a constant. After 1923, Hitler was able to build his political base in part by playing upon the cultural baggage of German romanticism and regionalism. Speaking of the deeper feeling of Germans during this difficult period, Hardach notes,
Themes of Blut und Boden, nostalgia for the glorious past, and chauvinisms of all kinds that appear in the words and images of Notgeld provided the reigns that enabled a National Socialism to tug at the hearts and minds of common Germans. SELECTED REFERENCES Hardach, Karl. The Political Economy of German in the Twentieth Century. Berkeley CA: The University of California Press, 1980. Schrader, Bärbel and Schebera, Jürgen. The "Golden" Twenties: Art and Life in the Weimar Republic. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. Charles R. Jansen |