German mark

The Deutsche Mark (DEM, DM) or German mark was the official currency of West and, from 1990 onwards, unified Germany. It was first issued under Allied occupation in 1948 replacing the Reichsmark, and served as the Federal Republic of Germany's official currency from its founding the following year until 1999, when the mark was replaced by the Euro; its coins and banknotes remained in circulation, defined in terms of euros, until the introduction of euro notes and coins in early 2002. The Deutsche Mark ceased to be legal tender immediately upon the introduction of the Euro — in contrast to the other Eurozone nations, where the euro and legacy currency circulated side by side for up to two months. However, DM coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany up until 28 February 2002.

The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all DM cash may be changed into euros indefinitely, and one may do so at any branch of the Bundesbank. As of 2006 there are still promotions every now and then where mark are accepted in shops.

One euro was set to be equivalent to DEM 1.95583.

One Mark was divided into 100 Pfennig; in colloquial German, the 10 Pfennig coin was also called a Groschen.

History

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, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2/3 grams of pure silver. Although the mark was based on gold rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 mark = 1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion.

The first mark, known as the gold mark, was introduced in 1873. With the outbreak of the First World War, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as high, then hyperinflation occurred and the currency became exclusively made up of paper money. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark in late 1923 and the Reichsmark in 1924.

The German mark was introduced on 21 June 1948 by the Western Allies (the USA, the United Kingdom and France). The old Reichsmark and Rentenmark were exchanged for the new currency at a rate of 1 Deutsche Mark = 10 Reichsmark, and each person received 40 Deutsche Mark. The move, intended to protect West Germany from the second wave of hyperinflation and stop the rampant barter and black market trade (where American cigarettes acted as currency), angered the Soviet authorities in East Berlin, who regarded it as a threat and promptly cut off all road, rail and canal) links between West Germany and West Berlin. This led to the "Berlin Blockade". In the former GDR, the East German mark (Mark der DDR, unofficially Ostmark) was introduced a few days afterwards as Reichsmark or Rentenmark notes with adhesive stamps to stop the flooding of Reichsmark or Rentenmark notes from the West. And in July 1948, a completely new series of East German mark was issued.

The mark was issued by the Deutsche Bundesbank and 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 of the country's economic prosperity, particularly during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder in the 1950s. In the 1990s, opinion polls showed a majority of Germans opposed to the adoption of the euro; polls today show a significant number would prefer to return to the mark.

The Deutsche Mark played an important role in re-unification. It was introduced as the official currency of East Germany in July 1990, replacing the Ostmark, in preparation for unification on October 3. Ostmark bank accounts were exchanged at a rate of 1:1 for the first few thousand mark, which many economists criticized as being too generous, and a key cause of the subsequent economic problems in the new German states.

Coins

The image displays the obverses of all regular coins, with the values of 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.10, 0.50, 1.00, 2.00 and 5.00 DM (there is no 0.20 coin, and no 0.25 coin, and originally there was no 2.00 coin either). 0.01 and 0.02 are copper-colored, 0.05 and 0.10 are brass-colored, the rest are silver-colored. The reverse displays an oak twig (0.01-0.10), a woman planting an oak seedling (0.50), the Bundesadler (German eagle; 1.00 and 5.00) and faces of the German politicians and scientists Konrad Adenauer (Chancellor), Theodor Heuss (President), Franz Josef Strauß (Minister of Defense), Ludwig Erhard (Chancellor), Kurt Schumacher (Leader of the SPD), Willy Brandt (Chancellor) and Max Planck (Physicist) (2.00). There is a considerable number of commemorative 5 and 10 DM coins, which actually had the status of legal tender but are rarely seen outside of collectors' circles.

Banknotes

There were three series of DM banknotes:

One issued in 1948 by the Bank deutscher Länder, an institution of the western occupation government. The designs were similar to the US Dollar, French franc, and British pound, as the job of designing and printing the different denominations was shared between the occupying powers.
One issued in 1960 by the Bundesbank, depicting neutral symbols and famous paintings and buildings. There were 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 DM denominations.
One issued in 1989 by the Bundesbank to counter advances in forgery technology. The notes depicted German artists and scientists together with symbols and tools of their trade. This series added a 200 DM denomination, to decrease the use of 100 DM banknotes, which made up 54% of all circulating banknotes, and to fill the "gap" between the 100 DM and 500 DM denomination. Nevertheless the 200 DM denomination was rather rare, too.

In the latter two series, the 5 DM denomination was rarely seen, as were the ones with a value greater than 100 DM.

Banknotes of the third series (1990-2002)

The design of German banknotes remained unchanged since the 1960's. Since then, forgery technology made significant advances, so in the late 1980's the Bundesbank decided to issue a new series of Deutsche Mark banknotes. The colours for each denomination remained unchanged to the previous series, but the design underwent a significant change, and a 200 DM denomiation was newly introduced. Famous national artists and scientists were chosen to be displayed on the new banknotes. Interestingly, male and female artists were chosen in equal numbers. The buildings in the background of the note's obverse have always 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 reverse of the note refers to the work of the person on the obverse. The new security features were: A windowed security-thread (with the notes denomination in microprinting), micro-printing, intaglio-printing, colour-shifting ink (on the 500 and 1000 DEM denominations), a see-through register, and UV-visible security features. First to be issued were the 100 and 200 DM denominations on 1 October 1990 (although the banknote shows "Frankfurt am Main, 2. Januar 1989"). The next denomination was 10 DM in March 1991, followed by 50 DM in autumn the same year. Next was the 20 DEM note in March 1992 (printed on 2 January 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 5, 500, and 1000 DM denominations on 1 October 1992. The latter three denominations were rarely seen in circulation and were introduced in one step. With the advance of forgery technology, the Bundesbank decided to introduce additional security features on the most important denominations (50, 100, and 200 DM) 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 €5, €10, and €20 banknotes), and the EURion constellation on the note's reverse. Furthermore, the colors were changed a bit to pastel to hamper counterfeing.

5 DM (yellowish-green)
Obverse: German author Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859). In the background of the note, left of the portrait, Wiepersdorf estate and buildings of historic Berlin are shown.
Reverse: The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

10 DM (blue-purple)
Obverse: German scientist and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855). The background of the note shows the curve of the Gaussian distribution, as well as historic buildings of Göttingen.
Reverse: A sextant

20 DM (blueish-green)
Obverse: Novelist Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848). Background shows buildings of the city of Meersburg.
Reverse: A quill pen and a beech-tree, referring to her work Die Judenbuche.

50 DM (yellowish-brown)
Obverse: Famous architect Balthasar Neumann with buildings of Old-Würzburg in the background of the note.
Reverse: Partial view of the stairway in the Würzburg Residence and the ground plan of a famous chapel, Kreuzkapelle, in Kitzingen.

100 DM (dark blue)
Obverse: Pianist and composer Clara Schumann (1819-1896). The background of the note features buldings of historic Leipzig and a lyre.
Reverse: A grand piano and the Hoch'sches Konservatorium, a school for musicians in Frankfurt.

200 DM (orange)
Obverse: Scientist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915). In the background buildings of historic Frankfurt and the formula of Arsphenamine, a drug introduced by Ehrlich, are shown.
Reverse: A microscope and the Rod of Asclepius surrounded by simplified cell structures are shown.

500 DM (red-purple)
Obverse: Natural scientist Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). The background shows an insect and buildings of ancient Nuremberg.
Reverse: A dandelion, an inchworm and a butterfly are shown on the reverse of the 500 DEM denomination.

1000 DM (dark-brown)
Obverse: Wilhelm (1786-1859) and Jakob (1785-1863) Grimm are displayed on the 1000 DEM note with buildings of historic Kassel in the background.
Reverse: The 'German dictionary' (Deutsches Wörterbuch) and the Royal library in Berlin are shown on the reverse of the note.

Spelling

The German name of the currency was Deutsche Mark; its plural form in standard German was the same as the singular. The English loanword "Deutschmark" had a slightly different spelling (possibly due to the silent E in English) and a plural form. In Germany, the currency's name was often abbreviated as Mark or sometimes D-Mark, with the latter term also often used in English.

External links

German currencies | Currencies replaced by the Euro