Economics

Germany emerged from World War I with huge debts incurred to finance a costly war for almost five years. The treasury was empty, the currency was losing value, and Germany needed to pay its war debts and the huge reparations bill imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war. The treaty also deprived Germany of territory, natural resources, and even ships, trains, and factory equipment. Her population was undernourished and contained many impoverished widows, orphans, and disabled veterans. The new German government struggled to deal with these crises, which had produced a serious hyperinflation. By 1924, after years of crisis management and attempts at tax and finance reform, the economy was stabilized with the help of foreign, particularly American, loans. A period of relative prosperity prevailed from 1924 to 1929. This relative "golden age" was reflected in the strong support for moderate pro-Weimar political parties in the 1928 elections. However, economic disaster struck with the onset of the world depression in 1929. The American stock market crash and bank failures led to a recall of American loans to Germany. This development added to Germany's economic hardship. Mass unemployment and suffering followed. 

In the fall of 1923, German children were singing a counting song much like the song Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Mo:

One, two, three, four, and five million.

Mummy’s gone to buy some beans.

A pound of beans costs ten billion

Without bacon!

And out you go!

The previous year, a popular song writer, Weiss Ferdl, had written the following:

It can’t go on like this,

Say the masons up on their scaffolds

If you’re drinking beer at lunch,

The pleasure costs you four hundred marks.

And if you want a slice of sausage,

You don’t get enough for a thousand marks.

That’s just what you pay for a small lunch,

That’s where having lunch has to stop.