Flag of Hamburg
History
Hamburg was probably founded in 808 AD with the establishment of a fortress on the Elbe river to protect the Frankish Empire and the Saxons from Danish and Slavic raids. In 1189 the small town was granted city rights within the Holy Roman Empire, and this date marks the start of Hamburg as a Free City.
Hamburg quickly developed as a port and trading hub in Northern Europe, and its alliance with the city of Lübeck in 1241 marked the start of the Hanseatic League, a group of European coastal cities from London to Nowgorod in Russia that co-ordinated trade interests.
Hamburg has often been of the scene of liberal reforms in Germany. The first German code of law was written there in 1270, and it was one the first places to adopt Lutheranism in 1529. The city's progressive spirit remained active over the centuries, being a stronghold for the socialist movement in the 19th century. Even today Hamburg is known as a liberal city.
Hamburg in the 19th century with Holstein to its north and Hanover to its south.
During the Napoleonic Wars Hamburg was occupied by French troops from 1806 until 1814, the last 3 years of which it was part of the French Empire. After this it became an independent state of the German Confederation and later the North German Confederation before it joined the German Empire in 1871. With the exception of the Third Reich era (1933-1945) Hamburg has always been a city state within Germany up to this date.
Just like most large German cities Hamburg was severely damaged due to aerial raids during World War 2, destroying a large part of its historic center.
Currency and coins
Hamburg minted its first coins in the 9th century, even before it became a free city. Back then the Carolingian monetary system was in place, with 240 Pennies (Pfennige) constituting 1 Pound of silver. Over the centuries the weight of the Pfennige was reduced until it more or less reached 240 Pfennige per Cologne Mark, approximately equal to 234 grams.
Lübeck monetary system (1379-1569)
Already in 1255 the cities of Hamburg and Lübeck agreed to harmonize the silver content of their Pfennige, setting it to 34 Schillinge (408 Pfennige) per Cologne Mark. In 1379 these cities agreed to a monetary system whereby 1 Mark = 16 Schillinge = 48 Witten = 192 Pfennige, which would remain the basis of a lot of coin systems in Northern Germany and Scandinavia for centuries.
By that time there were 810⅔ Pfennige in a Cologne Mark of pure silver. Especially the Witte of 4 Pfennige was a widely used silver coin. The Schilling initially only existed as a unit of account, and was first minted in 1403.
Meanwhile gold coinage also reached northern Germany. The Rhenish Gulden was a German version of the Fiorino d'Oro from Florence in Tuscany. Although the Fiorino was made of 3.5 grams of almost pure gold, the Rhenish Gulden was debased to a purity of approximately two third. The Gulden was also minted in Lübeck and valued at 2 Mark or 32 Schillinge.
In 1502 the first silver Mark was minted at a weight of 1/13 of a Cologne Mark. Not much later in 1519 Hamburg minted its first Thaler (also known as Guldiner) which was valued at 1½ Mark at that time. In 1571 this was adjusted to 1 Thaler = 2 Mark and in 1620 to 1 Thaler = 3 Mark, which would remain the case until the 19th century. The system could be summarised as follows:
1 Thaler = 3 Mark
1 Gulden = 2 Mark
1 Mark = 16 Schillinge
1 Schilling = 6 Plaffert = 12 Pfennige
1 Sechsling = 2 Dreilinge = 6 Pfennige
The Hamburg Mark followed the Thaler specifications of the remainder of Northern Germany at a rate of ⅓ Thaler. So in 1620 there were 27 Mark in a Cologne Mark, from 1667 this became 31½ after the monetary agreement of Zinna.
Mark Courant of Lübeck (1726-1821)
The vicinity of Schleswig-Holstein which was part of the Holy Roman Empire but also in personal union with Denmark, brought about a monetary agreement to unify the currencies of Denmark and parts of Northern Germany. It was based on the Mark Courant of which there were 34 in a Cologne Mark. The Danish Thaler or Daler was 3 Mark. The old subdivisions in Schilling and Pfennige remained.
Although the Mark Courant was the unit of account, some coins were still minted under the old Reichsthaler standard
Integration with the Prussian Thaler (1821-1873)
In 1821 the Mark Courant was slightly adjusted to 1/35 of a Cologne Mark to integrate it into the widely adopted Prussian Thaler system of 14 Thaler per Cologne Mark. The Thaler was therefore 2½ Mark Courant = 40 Schilling Courant.
German Mark (1873-date)
After the unification of Germany the Mark Courant of Hamburg was replaced by the German Mark at a rate of 1⅕ Mark Courant per German Mark. One can say that the Mark Courant of Hamburg and Lübeck gave its name to this new unified German currency. A few years before in 1860 it also gave its name to the Finnish Markka due to the centuries old Baltic Sea trade relations between those regions.
Hamburg continued to mint coins of 2, 3, 5, 10 and 20 Mark until the German Empire was dissolved in 1918. In 1923 during the hyperinflation the city issued aluminium 200,000 and ½ Million Mark emergency coins in its own name.
Catalogue
Free City of Hamburg (1189-1918)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hamburg_hanseatic_city-1.html
Hamburg Notgeld (1923)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/german-notgeld-27.html#devise4356
