During the sweltering summer of 1990, seven months after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, the lives of 16 million East Germans experienced an intense introduction to the tenets of capitalism. Even though the schedule for German unification was slated for October 3rd, the day of currency union preceded it by three months, taking place on July 1st.
East Germans had the opportunity to exchange their cash on a 1:1 basis for West German Deutschmarks, a favourable rate that had a couple of stipulations. Firstly, they had only a short span of a week to make this exchange, post which their money would have no value. Secondly, amounts exceeding 6,000 Eastern Marks would be swapped at a 2:1 rate.
This is the backdrop for the hit German summer comedy, ‘Two to One’, starring German Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller.
In contrast to her previous role as a heartless wife of a death camp commander in ‘The Zone of Interest’, East German-born Hüller portrayals Maren, a lively East German local who gets tangled in an unconventional robbery.
Upon observing trucks passing through their hometown of Halberstadt every night, Maren, along with her neighbours, decide to dig deeper. They stumble upon a hidden tunnel housing old East German currency, and decide to haul away as much as they can carry. However, it raised a question – is it considered theft if the cash is soon to lose its validity and the state that issued it will dissolve soon?
As Maren grapples with this dilemma, her neighbour Kate offers a blend of Aristotelian reasoning and Marxist ideology: “The state’s possession was ours since we had a people’s economy. As we are the people, it is our property.”
Evoking elements of the Ealing comedy, Whiskey Galore and Ireland’s Waking Ned, ‘Two to One’ vividly portrays the sheer pandemonium of East Germany during the momentous summer of 1990: the long bank queues, the shopping frenzy, and the dreams of East Germans yearning for an improved life.
The celluloid tale conceals a factual, extortionate issue that the East German national bank grappled with in 1990. Bereft of funds, akin to the situation in East Germany, the financial institution was to dispose of approximately 3,000 tonnes of valueless banknotes. The bank managed to find an economical resolution – by confining the money in an underground store in Halberstadt.
Fast forward ten years, and the KfW bank, a nationalised German bank now tasked with overseeing the underground vault and its reserves, discovered that mint-condition 200 and 500 Mark GDR notes were in general circulation. Given that these high denominations had been hoarded away in East Berlin vaults, and hence, seldom disbursed, the KfW surmised that the notes had originated from Halberstadt.
Upon evaluation of the facility, breaches in the walls were detected. The banknotes, contrary to expectations, were in prime condition due to the chilly ambiance of the vault.
With this new development, the KfW launched an operation to reclaim the GDR notes. The initial phase of 2002 saw a whopping 298 truckloads of money extracted, shredded and ultimate incinerated at a scorching 1,200 degrees; dwindling from two to one to naught.