A former unit of currency in East Germany worth 100 pfennigs.
[German : Ost, east (from Middle High German ōst, ōsten, from Old High German ōstan; see aus- in Indo-European roots) + Mark, mark (from Middle High German marke, marc; see mark2).]
All barriers to the movement of capital and labor were removed, and the East German ostmark was converted into deutsche marks at a rate of 1:1 for smaller amounts, and 2:1 for larger sums.
1938: Hitler invaded Austria, which was made a German Reich province named Ostmark. 1985: Russian leader Konstantin Chernenko was buried in Red Square as Mikhail Gorbachev became the youngest member of the ruling Politburo at 54.
1938: Hitler invaded Austria which was made a German Reich province named Ostmark. 1963: Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung invited Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev for talks to try to heal relations.
The deutschmark launched in 1948 under Allied rule in post-war western Germany went on to replace former East Germany's "Ostmark" in 1990, during the year of German reunification.
It was originally linked to the German ostmark at a 1:1 ratio--a currency that, although it was a floating fiat currency after World War I, was not obviously worse than the other (then-floating) major international currencies of the day, and had the advantage of locality.
The President asked me to advise on the economics, particularly the plan by Kohl to exchange one deutsche mark for one ostmark. On the German side, Pohl and his colleagues were not exactly enamored of that idea.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.