Fragments of Power
Neil MacGregor discovers how coins reveal the range and diversity of the Holy Roman Empire, with around 200 different currencies struck in the different territories of Germany.
Neil MacGregor discovers how coins reveal the range and diversity of the Holy Roman Empire, with around 200 different currencies struck in the different territories of Germany.
It's an extraordinarily immediate and physical way of grasping the complexity and the confusion of the Holy Roman Empire, because every coin represents a kind of sovereignty. To be able to strike a coin you needed to be the ruler in your territory - and every coin speaks of a particular state, with its particular laws and a whole set of traditions.
Producer Paul Kobrak.
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Gallery: Coins reveal the diversity of the Holy Roman Empire
See some of the 200 or so currencies struck in the different territories of Germany.
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A close look at objects from the series
See this gold coin and other fascinating objects from Germany.
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Money in Crisis
Neil MacGregor on the emergency money created to replace metal coins, and hyperinflation.
Broadcasts
- Fri 3 Oct 201409:45BBC Radio 4 FM
- Fri 3 Oct 201419:45BBC Radio 4
- Sat 4 Oct 201400:30BBC Radio 4
Made in Germany: the stories of 10 fascinating objects
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10 things you may not know about Germany
Degenerate art and other facts from this fascinating nation.
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Neil MacGregor explores 600 years of Germany's complex and often challenging history.
