In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as they usually switch to more stable foreign currencies. When measured in stable foreign currencies, prices typically remain stable.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution owned by central banks that "fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks". The BIS carries out its work through its meetings, programmes and through the Basel Process – hosting international groups pursuing global financial stability and facilitating their interaction. It also provides banking services, but only to central banks and other international organizations. It is based in Basel, Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.
The Deutsche Mark, abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark", 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". One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 pfennigs.
The Deutsche Bundesbank, literally "German Federal Bank", is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB. Both the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank (ECB) are located in Frankfurt, Germany. It is sometimes referred to as "Buba" for Bundesbank, while its usual abbreviation is BBk in Germany and internationally DBB.
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 a merging of three Teutonic/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.
Hjalmar Schacht was a German economist, banker, centre-right politician, and co-founder in 1918 of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic. He was a fierce critic of his country's post-World War I reparations obligations.
Hans Luther was a German politician and Chancellor of Germany for 482 days in 1925 to 1926. As Minister of Finance he helped stabilize the Mark during the hyperinflation of 1923. From 1930 to 1933, Luther was head of the Reichsbank and from 1933 to 1937 he served as German Ambassador to the United States.
The Reichsmark was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the Deutsche Mark, and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennigs. The Mark is an ancient Germanic weight measure, traditionally a half pound, later used for several coins; whereas Reich, comes from the official name for the German state from 1871 to 1945, Deutsches Reich.
The Papiermark was the German currency from 4 August 1914 when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I. In particular, the Papiermark was the currency issued during the hyperinflation in Germany of 1922 and 1923.
The Reichsbank was the central bank of the German Reich from 1876 until 1945.
Notgeld refers to money issued by an institution in a time of economic or political crisis. The issuing institution is usually one without official sanction from the central government. This usually occurs when not enough state-produced money is available from the central bank. In particular, notgeld generally refers to money produced in Germany and Austria during World War I and the interwar period. Issuing institutions could be a town's savings banks, municipalities and private or state-owned firms. Nearly all issues contained an expiry date, after which time they were invalid. Issues without dates ordinarily had an expiry announced in a newspaper or at the place of issuance.
The Rentenmark was a currency issued on 15 October 1923 to stop the hyperinflation of 1922 and 1923 in Weimar Germany, after the previously used "paper" Mark had become almost worthless. It was subdivided into 100 Rentenpfennig and was replaced in 1924 by the Reichsmark.
The German mark was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold standard from 1871–1914, but like most nations during World War I, the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold and silver coins ceased to circulate.
The Czech National Bank, is the central bank and financial market supervisor in the Czech Republic with its headquarters in Prague, and a member of the European System of Central Banks. The Bank's governor is Aleš Michl. In accordance with its primary objective, the CNB sets monetary policy, issues banknotes and coins and manages the circulation of the Czech koruna, the payment system and settlement between banks. It also performs supervision of the banking sector, the capital market, the insurance industry, pension funds, credit unions and electronic money institutions, as well as foreign exchange supervision.
Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank is Germany's development agency for agribusiness and rural areas. The bank has its registered office in Frankfurt am Main. In 2019 it will be 70 years since it was founded. With its low-interest loans, Rentenbank promotes a wide range of investments in agriculture and the associated upstream and downstream industries as well as in rural areas. The funds are raised in the international capital markets. Rentenbank was established in 1949 as a central funding institution with a statutory promotional mandate. The Federal Republic of Germany has an institutional liability (Anstaltslast) and acts as a guarantor for the liabilities of Rentenbank. Rentenbank is a successor to Deutsche Rentenbank, established as the currency issuer of the Rentenmark in 1923 to combat hyperinflation, and Deutsche Rentenbank Kreditanstalt (RKA), a major lender in the agricultural sector formed in 1925. With total assets under management in the amount of around EUR 90 billion, Rentenbank counts among the 15 largest banks and is the third largest development bank in Germany. Rentenbank is under the supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority(BaFin) and Deutsche Bundesbank.
Hyperinflation affected the German Papiermark, the currency of the Weimar Republic, between 1921 and 1923, primarily in 1923. It caused considerable internal political instability in the country, the occupation of the Ruhr by France and Belgium as well as misery for the general populace.
The international status and usage of the euro has grown since its launch in 1999. When the euro formally replaced 12 currencies on 1 January 2002, it inherited their use in territories such as Montenegro and replaced minor currencies tied to the pre-euro currencies, such as in Monaco. Four small states have been given a formal right to use the euro, and to mint their own coins, but all other usage outside the eurozone has been unofficial. With or without an agreement, these countries, unlike those in the eurozone, do not participate in the European Central Bank or the Eurogroup.
The Deutsche Golddiskontbank was a state-owned special bank founded in 1924 to promote German export industry by financing raw material imports. It was liquidated in 1945.
On the founding of the German Empire in 1871, trade and transport was hampered by the existence of eight different currency systems across the various member states of the Empire. There were eight state currencies whose coins included the Thaler, Vereinsthaler, Konventionsthaler, Kreuzer, Heller, Groschen, Silbergroschen, Neugroschen, Gulden, Konventionsgulden, Schilling, Mark, Pfennig, Neu-Pfennig, Franc, Centime, Bremen Goldthaler, Groten, Schwaren, Prussian or Graumann Reichsthaler, Kurantthaler and Friedrich d'Or, which were all based on different gold and silver standards, making trade more difficult.
