{
 "id": "germany-1921-1923",
 "country": "Germany",
 "currency": "Papiermark",
 "periodStart": "1921",
 "periodEnd": "1923",
 "peakInflation": "29,500%",
 "peakMonthlyPct": 29500,
 "peakMonth": "October 1923",
 "doubling": "3.70 days",
 "hkEpisode": "Aug 1922 – Dec 1923",
 "currencyReform": "1 Rentenmark = 1 trillion marks",
 "cause": "Reparations and a deficit paid by the Reichsbank",
 "resolution": "Rentenmark (Nov 1923), Reichsbank barred from lending to the state",
 "url": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/germany-1921-1923/",
 "summary": "The reference case. A lost war, reparations the state would not tax for, and a central bank that bought the government's bills without limit took the mark from 4.2 per dollar in 1914 to 4.2 trillion in November 1923. Prices peaked in October 1923, rising 29,500% in a single month and doubling every 3.70 days (H&K). It ended within weeks once the Reichsbank was barred from financing the state and a new unit, the Rentenmark, replaced the paper mark.",
 "timeline": [
  {
   "date": "1914–1918",
   "event": "War financed by debt; 4.2 → 7.9 marks per dollar."
  },
  {
   "date": "May 1921",
   "event": "London Schedule: 132 bn gold marks of reparations."
  },
  {
   "date": "mid-1922",
   "event": "320 marks per dollar; August 1922 inflation crosses 50%/month (H&K start)."
  },
  {
   "date": "December 1922",
   "event": "7,400 marks per dollar."
  },
  {
   "date": "January 1923",
   "event": "Occupation of the Ruhr; passive resistance financed by the press."
  },
  {
   "date": "August 1923",
   "event": "Helfferich proposes a rye-backed \"Roggenmark\", the idea behind the Rentenmark."
  },
  {
   "date": "October 1923",
   "event": "Peak: +29,500% in the month, prices doubling every 3.70 days (H&K)."
  },
  {
   "date": "12 November 1923",
   "event": "Hjalmar Schacht becomes currency commissioner; the Reichsbank may no longer discount Treasury bills."
  },
  {
   "date": "16 November 1923",
   "event": "The Rentenmark is introduced; twelve zeros cut."
  },
  {
   "date": "20 November 1923",
   "event": "Reichsbank president Rudolf Havenstein dies; the dollar is at ≈ 4.2 trillion."
  },
  {
   "date": "1924",
   "event": "Dawes Plan restarts reparations on a payable schedule; 30 August 1924 monetary law: 1 trillion paper marks = 1 Reichsmark (= 1 Rentenmark)."
  }
 ],
 "banknotes": [
  {
   "label": "100 billion marks (26 Oct 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/100_billion_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "10 billion marks (Sep 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/10_millards_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "1 billion marks, emergency money (Notgeld), Bielefeld (1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/1_billion_Notgeld.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "500 million marks (1 Sep 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/F2-4%20500_millions_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "2 million marks (9 Aug 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/million_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "20 million marks (1 Sep 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/_million_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "100,000 marks, emergency money (Notgeld), Stollberg (1 Sep 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/100k_mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "100,000 marks (25 Jul 1923)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/10k_Mark.jpg"
  },
  {
   "label": "1,000 marks (15 Sep 1922)",
   "image": "https://hyperinflation.rogzy.org/assets/bills/web/1000_mark.jpg"
  }
 ],
 "exchangeRates": {
  "unit": "Marks per 1 USD",
  "approximate": false,
  "notes": "Monthly averages, except the last point: 4.2 trillion marks per dollar in November 1923 (Wikipedia). Peak monthly inflation 29,500% in October 1923 (Hanke & Krus). The Rentenmark replaced 1 trillion paper marks.",
  "sources": [
   "Statistisches Reichsamt",
   "Historical Statistics of Germany"
  ],
  "points": [
   {
    "date": "1921-01",
    "rate": 64
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-02",
    "rate": 62
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-03",
    "rate": 63
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-04",
    "rate": 64
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-05",
    "rate": 62
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-06",
    "rate": 70
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-07",
    "rate": 77
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-08",
    "rate": 100
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-09",
    "rate": 110
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-10",
    "rate": 150
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-11",
    "rate": 263
   },
   {
    "date": "1921-12",
    "rate": 191
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-01",
    "rate": 192
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-02",
    "rate": 208
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-03",
    "rate": 285
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-04",
    "rate": 291
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-05",
    "rate": 290
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-06",
    "rate": 317
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-07",
    "rate": 493
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-08",
    "rate": 1134
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-09",
    "rate": 1465
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-10",
    "rate": 3180
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-11",
    "rate": 7183
   },
   {
    "date": "1922-12",
    "rate": 7589
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-01",
    "rate": 17792
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-02",
    "rate": 27918
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-03",
    "rate": 21190
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-04",
    "rate": 24475
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-05",
    "rate": 47670
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-06",
    "rate": 109966
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-07",
    "rate": 353412
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-08",
    "rate": 4620455
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-09",
    "rate": 98860000
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-10",
    "rate": 25260000000
   },
   {
    "date": "1923-11",
    "rate": 4200000000000
   }
  ]
 },
 "sources": [
  "Hanke & Krus (2012), World Hyperinflations, Cato WP no. 8 — dates, peak, doubling time.",
  "Wikipedia, \"Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic\" — rates, Ruhr, Rentenmark, Schacht,",
  "Fergusson, A. (1975), When Money Dies.",
  "Bresciani-Turroni, C. (1931; Eng. tr. 1937), The Economics of Inflation.",
  "Parsson, J. O. (1974), Dying of Money."
 ],
 "licence": "Text and data: MIT (c) 2026 Rogzy. Banknote images (c) David St-Onge, not covered by the MIT licence."
}