Editing Reichsmark (section)

==History==
The Reichsmark was introduced in 1924 as a permanent replacement for the ''[[Papiermark]]''. This was necessary due to the [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|1920s German inflation]] which had reached its peak in 1923. The exchange rate between the old ''Papiermark'' and the Reichsmark was {{Reichsmark|1}} = 10<sup>12</sup> [[Papiermark|ℳ&#xfe01;]] (one trillion in American English and French, one billion in German and other European languages and British English of the time; see [[long and short scale]]). To stabilize the economy and to smooth the transition, the ''Papiermark'' was not directly replaced by the Reichsmark, but by the ''[[Rentenmark]]'', an interim currency backed by the ''[[Deutsche Rentenbank]]'', owning industrial and agricultural real estate assets. The Reichsmark was put on the [[gold standard]] at the rate previously used by the [[German mark (1871)|German mark]], with the [[U.S. dollar]] worth {{Reichsmark|4.20}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kofner|first=Yuri|date=2023-01-03 |title=MIWI Institute – 150 years of German monetary history |url=https://miwi-institut.de/archives/2626 |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=MIWI Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Expansion outside the Reichsmark ===
{{main|Öffa bills|Mefo bills}}

During this period a number of [[Shell corporation|shell companies]] were created and authorized to issue bonds outside the Reichsmark in order to finance state projects.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Bastisch, Andre |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/724193260 |title=Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahmen im Dritten Reich von 1933-1936 |year=2007 |publisher=GRIN Verlag |isbn=978-3-638-68655-6 |oclc=724193260}}</ref> Nominally exchangeable at a 1:1 rate for Reichsmarks but then discounted by the Reichsbank this created secret monetary expansion without formally renouncing the gold standard of the Reichsmark.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kopper |first=Christopher |date=April 1998 |title=Banking in National Socialist Germany, 1933–39 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0968565000001414 |journal=Financial History Review |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=49–62 |doi=10.1017/s0968565000001414 |s2cid=154770245 |issn=0968-5650|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===World War II===
With the [[Anschluss|annexation]] of the [[Federal State of Austria]] by Germany in 1938, the Reichsmark replaced the [[Austrian schilling]]. During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Germany established fixed exchange rates between the Reichsmark and the currencies of the [[German-occupied Europe|occupied]] and [[Axis powers|allied countries]], often set so as to give economic benefits to German soldiers and civilian contractors, who were paid their wages in local currency. The rates were as follows:

{|class="wikitable"
! Currency !! Date set !! Value per {{Reichsmark|10}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Belgian franc]] || align = "right"|May 1940 || align = "center"|Fr{{nbsp}}100
|-
|align = "right"|July 1940 || align = "center"|Fr{{nbsp}}125
|-
|[[Bohemian and Moravian koruna|Bohemia and Moravia crown]] || align = "right"|April 1939 || align = "center"|K{{nbsp}}100
|-
|[[Bulgarian lev]] || align = "right"|1940 || align = "center"|Lev{{nbsp}}333.33
|-
|[[Danish krone|Danish crown]] || align = "right"|1940 || align = "center"|DKr{{nbsp}}10
|-
|[[French franc]] || align = "right"|May 1940 || align = "center"|Fr{{nbsp}}200
|-
|[[Italian lira]] || align = "right"|1943 || align = "center"|Lit{{nbsp}}100
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Luxembourg franc]] || align = "right"|May 1940 || align = "center"|Fr{{nbsp}}40
|-
|align = "right"|July 1940 || align = "center"|Fr{{nbsp}}100
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Dutch guilder]] || align = "right"|10 May 1940 || align = "center"|ƒ6.66
|-
|align = "right"|17 July 1940 || align = "center"|ƒ7.57
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Norwegian krone|Norwegian crown]] || align = "right"|1940 || align = "center"|NKr{{nbsp}}13.33
|-
| align = "right"|? || align = "center"|NKr{{nbsp}}17.50
|-
|[[Polish złoty]] || align = "right"|1939 || align = "center"|zł{{nbsp}}20
|-
|[[Pound sterling|Sterling]] ([[German occupation of the Channel Islands|Channel Islands]]) || align = "right"|1940 || align = "center"|£0{{nbsp}}17s{{nbsp}}{{frac|4|1|2}}d
|-
|[[Independent State of Croatia kuna|Croatian kuna]] || align = "right"|April 1941 || align = "center"|Kn{{nbsp}}200
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Slovak koruna (1939-1945)|Slovak crown]] || align = "right"|1939 || align = "center"|Sk{{nbsp}}100
|-
|align = "right"|1 October 1940 || align = "center"|Sk{{nbsp}}116.20
|-
|[[Finnish mark]] || align = "right"|1941 || align = "center"|FMk{{nbsp}}197.44
|}

=== Post-war ===
After the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Reichsmark continued to circulate in Germany, but with new banknotes ([[AM-Mark|Allied Occupation Marks]]) printed in the US and in the [[Soviet occupation zone|Soviet Zone]], as well as with coins (without [[swastikas]]). Inflation in the final months of the war had reduced the value of the Reichsmark from {{Reichsmark|2.50}} = $1US to {{Reichsmark|10}} = $1US and a barter economy had emerged due to the rapid depreciation. The Reichsmark was replaced by the [[Deutsche Mark]] at a rate of 10:1 (1:1 for cash and current accounts) in June 1948 in the [[Bizone|Trizone]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Deutsche Mark and its Legacy |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/deutsche-mark-and-its-precious-legacies-4049080 |access-date=2024-06-23 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref> and later in the same year by the [[East German mark]] in the Soviet Occupation Zone (colloquially also "Ostmark", since 1968 officially "''Mark der DDR''"). The 1948 currency reform under the direction of [[Ludwig Erhard]] is considered the beginning of the [[Wirtschaftswunder|West German economic recovery]]; however, the secret plan to introduce the Deutsche Mark in the Trizone was formulated by economist [[Edward A. Tenenbaum]] of the [[Office of Military Government, United States|US military government]], and was executed abruptly on 21 June 1948. Three days later, the new currency also replaced the Reichsmark in the [[West Berlin|three Western sectors of Berlin]]. In November 1945, the Reichsmark was superseded by the Second Austrian [[Austrian schilling|schilling]] in Austria. In 1947, the [[Saar mark]], later replaced with the [[Saar franc]], was introduced in the [[Saar (protectorate)|Saar]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= |first= |author-link= |date=15 November 1947 |title=Law 1947-2158 of 15 November 1947 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1564552q/f2.item |journal=[[Journal Officiel de la République Française]] |language=French |volume= |issue=1947–268 |pages=11294 |doi= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |mr= |zbl= |id= |access-date=21 October 2020}}</ref>