Thousand-mark lock

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Thousand Mark Ban was an economic sanction that on 29 May 1933 by the German Reich government against Austria had been imposed, and which entered into force on 1 July 1933rd From then on, German citizens had to pay the German Reich a fee of 1,000 Reichsmarks when crossing the border into Austria  , except for small border traffic .

The aim was to weaken the Austrian economy , which was already heavily dependent on tourism at that time . The ban was lifted after the July Agreement of July 11, 1936.

history

Triggers and Consequences

The measure was intended to bring about the overthrow of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, who was already acting as a dictator at this point in time . The anticipated trigger for the measure was the expulsion of the Bavarian Minister of Justice Hans Frank from Austria. Frank was one of the leading National Socialists in the German Reich, he was part of Hitler's Old Guard . The reason for his expulsion was that, in a speech in Graz on May 15, 1933, he threatened active interference by the German government in Austrian domestic politics, since Austria was a “German state”.

The financial hurdle proved effective. The share of German tourists in Austrian tourism was around 40% in 1932. The total number of overnight stays fell from 19.9 million in 1932 to 16.5 million in the following year. The low point was reached in 1934 with 15.9 million overnight stays. In Tyrol alone there was a decrease in overnight stays from 4.4 million (in 1929/1933) to 500,000 (in 1933/38). The lockdown also had a massive impact on the university landscape. Many Reich German students were not only enrolled at the University of Graz , hundreds of whom then returned to German universities.

In more recent historiography, the effect of the lock is relativized. On the one hand, the effects of the global economic crisis that began at the end of the 1920s reached their peak at the same time. On the other hand, the barrier offered "a focal point at which the abstract problem of a fundamental economic crisis, which the average citizen cannot concretely understand, could be discussed."

Countermeasures

The Austrian government developed a series of measures to counteract the sharp drop in overnight stays, while individual tourist communities intervened with demands for an agreement with Germany. In addition to massive support for the ailing hotel industry, tourism advertising was intensified in other source areas, large-scale children's holiday campaigns were started, discounts were offered for longer trips with the Austrian Railway and pressure was exerted on officials to spend their vacation in Austria (up to additional vacation days, depending on the Destination). Numerous local projects increased the attractiveness of Austrian travel destinations. One of the most important examples is the Grossglockner High Alpine Road , which opened in 1935 .

Numerous films were made, which mainly aimed at tourists from Anglo- and Francophone countries, such as Carneval in Vienna (1935), Rendezvous in Vienna (1936), How a Frenchman sees Vienna (1937) or Viennese fashion (1937). Singende Jugend deserves special mention (1936, directed by Max Neufeld ); This film shows the Vienna Boys' Choir on the newly opened Grossglockner High Alpine Road and actually had good visitor numbers abroad. In Czechoslovakia it was even voted the best foreign film of 1936.

While the number of German travelers fell massively, there were particularly noticeable increases in Austrian domestic tourism in 1934 and 1935. Overnight stays by travelers from other countries also recorded striking growth rates in some cases.

literature

  • Gustav Otruba : A. Hitler's "Thousand-Mark-Barrier" and the consequences for Austria's tourism (1933–1938). Trauner, Linz, 1983, ISBN 3-85320-308-6 , ( Linz writings on social and economic history 9).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Compared to today's purchasing power, this fee would correspond to an amount of around EUR 4,600  .
  2. ^ Introduction and repeal of the 1000 Reichsmark compulsory levy at the border.
  3. ^ Hugo Portisch : Austria I: The underestimated republic . Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1989, ISBN 978-3-218-00485-5 , p. 428 .
  4. ^ Entry on the thousand-mark barrier in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon ).
  5. ↑ Dieter A. Binder: Political Catholicism and Catholic associations: using the example of the cartel association of Catholic non-colored student associations in Austria (ÖKV). SH-Verlag, 1989.
  6. ^ Johann-August-Malin-Gesellschaft : Double Truth. An article on the history of the thousand-marrow barrier , first published in 1985, accessed on January 15, 2018.
  7. ^ Ulrich Kluge: Hitler's defeat in Austria . In: The time . No. 49 , November 30, 1984 ( online [accessed January 15, 2018]).