ABSTRACT
THOSE who visit Germany and have at their disposal a goodly allowance of registered marks have little or no idea of the currency restrictions which are part of the law and custom of the land. Each foreigner is allowed to exchange fifty marks a day at par rates for his hotel bill and incidental expenses. (During the high jinks of the 1936 Olympiad the visitor was allowed one hundred registered marks per diem.) The allowance of fifty marks a day is both generous and adequate, for hotel accommodation in Germany is very reasonable in price, excellent meals can be obtained for a shilling or two, beer and wine are cheap and the railways are most accommodating in their special prices for the foreign visitor. The traveller with ordinary tastes for the moderate luxuries and amenities of life finds it hard to exceed the fifty-mark allowance. One might be tempted to believe that there is an immense amount of spare money circulating in the country. This is not the case. In point of fact the great mass of the German population is living very frugally on modest salaries and incomes. Outward extravagance is officially frowned on. If the German seems to derive a great deal of gaiety from life it is because he knows how to spend his money to the best advantage. The comparatively low prices prevailing make his choice of entertainment easier than is the case in most other European countries.
