Wära

The Wära was a demurrage-charged currency used in Germany introduced in the late 1920s as a free economy experiment in various places around Germany. It was introduced by Hans Timm and Helmut Rödiger, followers of Silvio Gesell, in 1926. The Wära is comparable to current models of local currencies.

The word Wära, invented by Timm and Rödiger, comes from the words Währung (currency) and währen ("to last"), in the sense of "lasting", "stable". One Wära corresponded to one Reichsmark. Wära banknotes were available in denominations of 1/2, 1, 2, 5 and 10 Wära.

Each Wära banknote had a monthly demurrage fee of one percent of its nominal value. This fee could be balanced by the acquisition of demurrage stamps of 1/2, 1, 2, 5 and 10 Wära-cents (1 cent equalled 1 Reichspfennig). On the back of the Wära banknote was a series of printed fields, where the demurrage stamps could be glued onto.

The idea of this measure was to place the currency under compulsory circulation. To avoid losing value, every owner of Wära currency had to spend their currency by its due date.

After long preparations, Helmut Rödiger and Hans Timm founded the "Wära circulation agency" in Erfurt in October 1929 - almost coinciding with the Black Friday in New York City, United States and the succeeding Great Depression. Three years earlier, a Wära test had been conducted in the Physiocratic League, to which Rödinger and Timm belonged.

The first success of the privately organised Wära currency agency was notable: in 1931, over 1000 businesses from all over the German Reich were members of the agency. Wära exchange stations were opened in several cities, where Reichsmark currency could be exchanged for Wära banknotes. "Wära accepted here!" was an advertisement found on numerous shop display windows. A notable example was the Wära experiment of Schwanenkirchen (today a part of Hengersberg).

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