During the renovation of the town hall in Mühlheim, the craftsmen found thousands of Reichsmarks in a cigarette box.
But who hid the bills - and why?
In the district of Tuttlingen, 370,000 Reichsmarks were found during the renovation of the centuries-old Mühlheim town hall.
The banknotes were hidden in an old cigarette box and were once clamped behind a railing.
When it was dismantled, the current carpenters practically fell into their hands.
The time before the euro: Who still knows these currencies?
The time before the euro: Who still knows these currencies?
370,000 Reichsmark - a message from the past
The year 1935 and various names were written on the cigarette box.
Project manager Gottlieb Riedinger told
SWR
that something like this would still be common among carpenters today.
This is intended to show posterity who was once at work on the building.
According to
SWR
, Helmut Grunwald also confirmed this.
The carpenter from the Sigmaringen district occasionally leaves a message himself on construction sites.
Grunwald and a colleague found the box and money in the town hall.
Money is not the only find at City Hall
When it comes to renovating historical buildings, it is always the case that you come across unusual and interesting things.
This is also the case in the town hall of Mühlheim an der Donau.
For example, a letter from a boy was found in the tower, in which he worshiped Adolf Hitler.
Bullets that may have come from the Thirty Years' War were also found in some wooden beams.
A dream for Ludwig Henzler, to whom the finds were presented.
The amateur historian takes care of the Mühlheim city archive on a voluntary basis.
By the way: You can earn up to 840 euros tax-free in addition to your pension with volunteer work.
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From 1924 to 1948 the Reichsmark was used to pay in Germany.
The former currency can no longer be exchanged, as the Bundesbank announced.
This applies to all banknotes and coins issued before June 20, 1948.
With the D-Mark, however, this is still the case.
© Makaule/Imago
How much is 370,000 Reichsmark worth?
The historical value of the four banknotes with a total value of 370,000 Reichsmarks exceeds the actual value many times over.
At the time of printing around 1923, they were hardly worth anything anymore, says Ludwig Henzler on
SWR
.
Quite different, by the way, from some D-Mark coins, some of which can be worth a lot.
During the inflationary period of the 1920s, a liter of milk cost one billion Reichsmarks.
The bills from the carpenters' hiding place were no longer worth anything.
Ludwig Henzler, city archivist of Mühlheim an der Donau
Nevertheless: the box and notes as well as the place where it was found show quite clearly what and how the town hall was worked and built in the past.
And that should also be preserved for posterity in the city archives - priceless knowledge.
List of rubrics: © Makaule/Imago