Editing Weimar Republic (section)

==== Hyperinflation ====
{{Main|Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00193, Inflation, Ein-Millionen-Markschein.jpg|left|thumb|249x249px|Million mark notes being used as a scratch pad]]
The hyperinflation fueled by the government's response to the occupation of the Ruhr caused the cost of a loaf of bread to rise from 3 Reichsmarks in 1922 to 80 billion Reichsmarks in November 1923. Prices were rising so rapidly that people rushed to spend their pay at lunch breaks before it lost any more of its value. Foreign trade became all but impossible, as did German ability to pay reparations.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Llewellyn |first1=Jennifer |last2=Thompson |first2=Steve |date=26 September 2019 |title=The hyperinflation of 1923 |url=https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/1923-hyperinflation/ |access-date=14 May 2023 |website=Alpha History}}</ref> While personal savings became virtually worthless, so did fixed debts. Middle class owners of land or houses often came out ahead because their debts lost value along with the currency. Large industrial concerns profited in the same manner, and wealth concentrated in fewer hands.{{Sfn|Winkler|1993|p=244}} The classic example was [[Hugo Stinnes]], who earned the title of Inflation King by taking advantage of its effects on debt to amass controlling interests in 1,535 businesses with 2,890 different plants by 1924.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |url={{Google books|cLEKEAAAQBAJ|page=179|plainurl=yes}} |title=Geschäft mit Wort und Meinung |publisher=DeGruyter |year=2020 |editor-last=Schulz |editor-first=Günther |location=Berlin |pages=179 |language=de |trans-title=Business with Word and Opinion}}</ref> Stinnes' empire collapsed after the government-sponsored inflation was stopped by the introduction of the [[Rentenmark]] on 15 November 1923. One U.S. dollar was equivalent to 4.20 Rentenmarks; the exchange rate was 1 Rentenmark to one trillion paper marks. The new money was backed by the Reich's gold reserves along with a 3.2 billion Rentenmark mortgage on the land holdings of agriculture, industry and trade. The introduction of the Rentenmark was successful at stabilizing German currency and the economy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scriba |first=Arnulf |date=6 August 2015 |title=Die Währungsreform 1923 |trans-title=The Currency Reform |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/innenpolitik/waehrungsreform-1923.html |access-date=13 May 2023 |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref>