bavarikon4UPaper money in Germany
A unified German state was formed for the first time with the foundation of the German Empire in 1871. Until then, Germany consisted of numerous sovereign states with individual political and economic systems. This is reflected in the history of Germany's paper money.
The first state paper money was issued in Prussia and Saxony in the 18th century, initially to reorganise the state treasury. Since the "Kassenscheine" (cash vouchers in Saxony) and "Tresorscheine" (safe vouchers in Prussia) were well accepted by the population, further issues followed. While the first Prussian notes of 1806 were still quite simple in design, the paper and printing quality improved steadily with each new series.
Despite the positive examples from Prussia and Saxony, the other German states were very reluctant to issue paper money. This did not change until industrialisation: While just nine institutes were issuing paper money in 1851, their numbers rose to 54 in total well into the 1860s. The majority of these were private issuing banks. They provided the necessary capital for the economy and trade with the approval of the respective state. The states themselves also issued paper money to restructure the national budget or to finance important projects such as railway construction.
After the foundation of the German Reich in 1871, the monetary system was unified. The mark was designated as the new currency. The law of 14 March 1875 decreed the establishment of the Reichsbank as a central bank. The private issuing banks were only allowed to issue paper money under strict conditions. As a result, many institutes waived their right to issue notes. In addition to the Reichsbank, just four issuing banks remained: the Sächsische Bank, the Bayerische Notenbank, the Württembergische Notenbank and the Badische Bank. Their right to issue notes expired in 1935.
The existence of the Reichsbank also ended with the capitulation of the German Reich in May 1945. Their notes were still in circulation until the currency reform in 1948. Successors as the central bank were the Bank deutscher Länder in 1948 and finally the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1957.
Note: The Deutsche Bundesbank banknotes are not presented on bavarikon for legal reasons.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).