Berlin woman, realizing that fuel costs money, starts the morning fire with marks "not worth the paper they are printed on"

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Date

1920-1935

Description

A Berlin woman starts the morning fire with marks "not worth the paper they are printed on." This photograph is emblematic of the period of hyperinflation that struck Germany following the First World War. In this period, "it was possible to pay 50 million dollars for a nickel cup of coffee, and 35 million dollars for a $35 suit of clothes." The virtual worthlessness of Weimar currency contributed to the rise of radical factions on both sides of the political spectrum, culminating ultimately in the fall of Weimar Germany and the ascent of Adolf Hitler.

Type

Photograph

Region

Global

Era

Turn of the Century and WWI, The Great Depression and WW II

Topic

Economics, Global History and Geography, World War I, World War II

Repository

Library of Congress

Identifier

2017696875

Source

Farm Security Administration. Office of War Information Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Rights

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