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The bridge that saved a city: The Iron Curtain fall – Part 5: the Berlin Airlift
Continuing our series on the coming of the Cold War, Taylor Downing examines the first major confrontation with the Soviets.
In the spring of 1948, the US Mint was working on overdrive. In addition to producing the millions of ‘greenbacks’ needed for circulation within the United States, a huge new operation was being undertaken. The US Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, under the direction of the US Army’s Military Government for Germany, were printing millions of brand-new banknotes in total secrecy. These were Deutsche Marks for the new currency to be launched in west Germany. Produced in denominations of up to 100 Marks, a total of 500 million banknotes were printed. These were then secretly transported in sealed containers by air and sea to Germany.
On 18 June 1948, the new Deutsche Mark
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