and the collapse of the EMS
John F Chown · 2003
In 1989 the Hungarian border was opened to East German refugees, and in November that year the German borders were themselves opened, the Berlin Wall was destroyed by a jubilant population, and serious discussions towards reunification began. West Germans had been offering ‘welcome money’ of DM100 to East German visitors to the West, but Western visitors to the East had had to change a minimum amount of money at official rates in effect as an entry fee. This penalty was abolished at the beginning of 1990, and West Germany set up and subsidised a foreign travel currency fund permitting East German citizens to acquire DM100 for ostmarks at par, and a further DM100 at a rate of 1 per 5, each year, a measure expected to cost DM2.9 billion. East Germans (and ethnic Germans from elsewhere in Eastern Europe) coming West were to receive integration payments.