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The Funny Money of Weimar Germany

By: Owen Hatherley

Notgeld was the money issued locally in Germany during the First World War and the tumultuous interwar period. What do these strange and experimental artefacts reveal about art and money?

Notgeld, or emergy money, issued by German municipalities featured designs that ranged from fairytales to political messages. (Photo by: Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

Small

Until the last few years, most people of working age in Britain would have had little experience of inflation, at least outside of the usually (and inexplicably) exempted case of housing. Although the inflation of the mid-1970s is the one your grandparents may remember, nothing has ever compared with the German inflation of a 100 […]

Medium

Until the last few years, most people of working age in Britain would have had little experience of inflation, at least outside of the usually (and inexplicably) exempted case of housing. Although the inflation of the mid-1970s is the one your grandparents may remember, nothing has ever compared with the German inflation of a 100 […]

Large

Until the last few years, most people of working age in Britain would have had little experience of inflation, at least outside of the usually (and inexplicably) exempted case of housing. Although the inflation of the mid-1970s is the one your grandparents may remember, nothing has ever compared with the German inflation of a 100 […]

Until the last few years, most people of working age in Britain would have had little experience of inflation, at least outside of the usually (and inexplicably) exempted case of housing. Although the inflation of the mid-1970s is the one your grandparents may remember, nothing has ever compared with the German inflation of a 100 […]

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