Time features a fascinating collection of 11 photos, entitled "The Dangers of Printing Money," that help chronicle what life was like during the hyperinflation of the Weimar era.
Tough Times In the years following World War I, Germany took to printing money to help meet expenses. With inflation spiraling and the mark plummeting, things worsened when the French occupied Germany's industrial Ruhr region. Workers, the middle class and pensioners were hit hardest by the crisis. Here, the Salvation Army serves hungry Berliners in the dark days of 1923.
Child's Play Forget toys: with as many as 4.2 trillion marks to the dollar by late 1923, German children played in the streets with worthless money.
Walking a Tightrope With the mark almost worthless, bartering made a comeback. Germans are seen here swapping bread, sausages and jam for tickets to the circus.
Black Market With dollars a prized possession, two men trade marks for U.S. currency on a street in Berlin in 1922. [Editor's note: I'm wondering if the trade might go in the opposite direction next time around.]
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Amid runaway inflation, new bank notes were issued. This, a 50 million mark bill from 1923, was small change compared to the 100 trillion mark notes that were also being printed.
Marked Men
Millions of marks are stacked and counted in a Cologne bank, ready for distribution to stricken customers.
Money For Nothing
The collapse of the mark made it cheaper to paper a wall with bank notes than to buy wallpaper.
Bag it Up
Rocketing inflation in 1922 meant this grocer's cash register had to be emptied regularly, and its contents stored in a tea chest. Workers were known to collect their wages in suitcases, before spending them immediately.
Fanning the Flames
German marks might not have bought much back in 1923, but they were useful for lighting the stove.
Sign of the Times
At this Berlin food store, meat and fish fetched exorbitant prices. Pickled herrings — at 350 marks each — are the cheapest on offer. The mark would eventually recover and was the Federal Republic of Germany's official currency until it was replaced by the euro.
time
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