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100 years of inflation

Special exhibition "100 Years of Hyperinflation in Germany 1923

We can no longer ask contemporary witnesses who experienced the German hyperinflation of 1923 themselves. Nevertheless, almost all Germans would probably think of a lot to say about this keyword: "insanely" rising prices, "shopping stress" (because you would get much less in two or three days with the wage payment you had just received) and long queues in front of the shops. Almost all strata of the population were affected, and the flourishing barter trade as well as not quite legal "business" helped many a person through this difficult time. From 1924 onwards, it took quite some time before life returned to normal.

Philatelically, one speaks of the German inflation from 1916 onwards. The stamps issued until 1923 illustrate very well how rising prices also affected postal rates. In postal history, inflation is divided into a total of 27 postage periods. The late periods are of particular interest, and the "November letters" are an established term. Learn more about this and many other facets of this period of the German Empire

in the special show "100 Years of Hyperinflation in Germany 1923". The INFLA-Berlin e.V. working group and its coordinator Harald Mürmann have put a lot of effort into presenting this topic on the occasion of the 100th anniversary with various exhibits and philatelic elaborations. You can also look forward to three accompanying specialist articles in the exhibition catalogue.

At the moment, by the way, inflation is on everyone's lips again - since 2022, the population in Germany and in many other countries of the "western world" has been confronted with sharply rising prices, e.g. for energy and food. Fortunately, the situation today is different from what it was back then, when enormous reparation payments for damage caused by World War 1 simply overstretched Germany's financial system. In any case, it is very unlikely that the "German Inflation from 2022" collection will exist in a few years.

The 100th anniversary of "high inflation" in 2023 is reason enough for IBRA 2023 to dedicate a special show to the topic of inflation. The special show will be organised in close cooperation with INFLA-Berlin (https://www.infla-berlin.de/).

The following exhibits will be shown in this special show:

Exhibit title: Exhibitor:
Introduction to the German Hyperinflation 1923 Harald Mürmann
The History of INFLA-Berlin Harald Mürmann
The last postage period 26-30.11.1923 Wieland Rasp
Inflation sheet - printing and special features and important tool for research Walter Trösch