Value Judgments. Notgeld and Exchange with an ‘Inflation Saint’ in Thuringia

Abstract

Notgeld, or emergency money, was a phenomenon of Germany’s decade of inflation (1914-1924). Created in tens of thousands of unique issues, this provisional currency produced by municipalities, businesses, and local banks was initially intended as a temporary substitute for the often unavailable Reichsmark. As the inflation wore on, however, Notgeld became more than a replacement for the Reichsmark. It became a fixture of local economies, a desirable collectible, and a visual space to promote identity, express anxieties, and assert independence from the political and economic turmoil of the nation. This essay explores how Notgeld produced by the town of Kahla in Thuringia, a prolific centre for the production of emergency money, interrogated concepts of community, labour, and value during the inflation. It also examines the exchange between Kahla and a different kind of community influenced by inflation: followers of the so-called “Inflationsheiliger” Friedrich Muck-Lamberty. Muck-Lamberty promoted values very different from those of the communities he encountered on his tour through Thuringia in 1920, offering an explicit alternative to the social and economic status quo. The story of Muck-Lamberty’s visit to Kahla and the scandal that ensued was the basis for a set of notes that became the town’s first financially successful Notgeld series.

Der Aufsatz wurde zuerst veröffentlicht unter dem Titel „Currency and Community. Labor, Identity, and Notgeld in Inflation-era Thuringia” in: German Historical Institute Washington Bulletin, Supplement 14, 2019, S. 39-56: https://www.ghi-dc.org/fileadmin/publications/Bulletin_Supplement/Supplement_14/Sup14_39.pdf