East German mark
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| Image:DDR Mark Vorderseite 1Mark kl.jpg | Image:DDR Mark Rueckseite 1Mark kl.jpg |
The East German mark (German language: Mark der DDR) commonly called Ostmark, "Eastern mark" (in East Germany itself it was commonly called only "Mark" - Ostmark is a West German- or after unification word), was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). The ISO 4217 currency code for the Mark der DDR was DDM.
Known officially as the Deutsche Mark until 1964, Mark der Deutschen Notenbank until 1967 and the Mark der DDR (Mark of the GDR) after, it was referred to colloquially as simply the Mark. It was divided into 100 pfennigs (Pf). There were coins of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 pfennigs, as well as 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 marks. 10 and 20 mark coins were very rare. Banknotes were issued for 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 marks. Notes of 200 and 500 marks were later printed, but were never issued, as the government believed they would make the country appear to have inflationary tendencies.
The East German mark could not be spent in Intershops to acquire Western consumer goods; only hard currencies or Forum checks were accepted.
It was officially valued by the East German government at parity with the Deutsche Mark, but it was never freely convertible. Visitors to East Germany were required to exchange Deutsche Marks with Ostmarks at this ratio. On the black market this rate was about 5 to 10 Ms for a DM.
Upon adoption of the Deutsche Mark in East Germany on 1 July 1990, the GDR mark was converted at 1:1 for wages, prices, and basic savings. Larger amounts were converted at a 1:2 rate. This inflated exchange rate was intended as a massive subisidy for eastern Germany by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and remains controversial among economists, with some arguing that the exchange of currency was the most practical way of quickly unifying the German economy, and others arguing that the exchange increased the disruption of German unification beyond what they otherwise would be, by among other things, making eastern German industries uncompetitive.
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