Weimar Germany, 10 billion mark note, saved by German Jewish refugee
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 4.125 inches (10.477 cm) | Width: 6.000 inches (15.24 cm)
Creator(s)
- Deutsche Reichsbank (Issuer)
Archival History
The money was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2011 by Ron Lenneberg, the son of Carl Werner Lenneberg.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ron Lenneberg
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Weimar Germany 10 billion mark note saved by Carl Werner Lenneberg. This currency was issued by the new democratic government that ruled Germany after World War I (1914-1918), when it was in a period of hyper inflation that threatened the stability of the country. During the war, Lenneberg was a soldier in the 8th (Rhenish) Foot Artillery Battalion, XVI Army Corps, German Army. In January 1933, Hitler and the Nazi regime took power. Anti-Jewish policies put increasingly harsh restrictions on Jewish life. Werner and his brother Georg were arrested during Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, and sent to Dachau concentration camp. After release, they left Germany on the ill-fated voyage of the MS St. Louis to Havana, Cuba, May 13-June 17, 1939. Upon the ship's forced return to Europe, Carl and George were in the group given asylum in Belgium. In April 1940, they sailed from Antwerp to New York.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
10 billion German mark note printed on one side of rectangular white paper in brown, red-brown, and black ink. On each side is a vertical panel with an intricate Art Nouveau geometric background and scalloped edges. The left has the denomination 10 Milliarden Mark; the right has 2 lines of small text. In the center is a square with a central abstract floral embellishment on a background of 10s alternating with small flowers overprinted with the denomination Zehn Milliarden Mark and German text, with 2 Reichsbank seals in the bottom corners and the serial number in red ink in the bottom right. The back is blank. The note is wrinkled, torn, and soiled along the edges.
Subjects
- Jewish refugees--Belgium.
- Soldiers--Germany.
- World War (1939-1945)--Refugees.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany.
- Jewish soldiers--Germany.
- Jews--Persecution--Germany.
- Germany--Economic conditions--1918-1933.
Genre
- Object
- Exchange Media