Of the population of Germany (1925 statistics) about 65% belongs to Protestantism, about 32% to Catholicism, a little less than i % is made up of Israelites; the rest is divided between various Christian confessions (Old Catholics, Orientals, etc.), other non-Christian religions (a few thousand), and between extraneous to any religion or explicitly atheists (these about 2%).
According to Localcollegeexplorer, Protestants are in great prevalence over Catholics, especially in Prussia, Saxony, Thuringia, Mecklenburg (Schwerin and Strelitz), Oldenburg, Anhalt, Waldeck, Hamburg, etc.; Catholics prevail in Bavaria and Baden. The Old Catholics (v.), Which number around 33,000, have a bishop in Bonn; the Israelites, scattered more or less everywhere, are more numerous in Prussia.
From this table it is easy to see how in the years of economic recovery, which followed stabilization, the continuous increase in public spending absorbed Germany’s growing ability to pay almost from the beginning, also necessitating a large recourse to credit (Reich expenses are but also included payments for reparations which absorbed an average of 12 1 / 2% of total tax revenue). In the financial year 1931-32, on the other hand, there was a strong reduction in expenses following the contraction in revenues, which had already occurred in the previous financial year, and only partially neutralized by the new tax increases. A further reduction in expenses, especially those for social assistance, and a further tightening of the tax system were also necessary to ensure the balance of the budget 1932-1933, for which a deficit was foreseen.of 920 million marks. Income taxes, consumption taxes, turnover taxes and customs, have given, in the financial years considered, the largest revenue assets of the Reich budget, while the main expenditure items (excluding payments to federal states and to the municipalities) were those for reparations and military and war pensions; those for defense, transport and public debt service follow at a distance. The postal and telegraph services and the railways, which since the constitution of 1919 were placed under the exclusive control of the Reich, have since 1924 been set up as autonomous companies with a separate budget. However, the Reich is still interested in the possible profits of their management. The main revenues of the budgets of local authorities are given by the tax on rents and tax on land and buildings; they are also entitled to a part of the taxes received directly by the Reich, and it is these transfers (relating above all to income tax) that constitute the most important asset of their income (in 1931-32: 2314 million). The biggest expenses they bear are those for public education and for social, economic and internal administrations.
Of the 24 billion that the total public debt amounted to 31 March 1931 only 6 represented the amount of old debts and those in progress or authorized before the ° in April 1924. Of the 18 billion debt new contract from Germany from 1924 to 1931, 3,4 had been inscribed in the public debt book for war damages (loans from Dawes, Young, etc.) and the remainder had been hired for public works and relief works. As of March 31, 1932, the public debt of the Reich reached 11,423 million of which: 4560 of old internal debts, 3648 of new internal debts (2454 long-term and 1194 short-term) and 3,215 of foreign debt (2691 long-term and 524 soon).
Money and credit. – As regards the monetary unit of Germany and the order of the Reichsbank, see on. We limit ourselves here to giving the figures on the amount of notes in circulation and gold reserves as at 31 December 1931: respectively 4775.8 and 1156.3 million Reichsmarks; and as of May 23, 1932: 3739.3 and 990.9.
Of the four largest German banking institutions: Deutsche Bank, Diskonto Gesellschaft, Dresden Bank and Darmstädter und Nationalbank (founded respectively in 1870, 1851, 1872 and 1922 and mainly having the character of multiple-branch discount banks as well as investment banks) the first two merged in 1929 in order to reduce enormous overheads, to put an end to mutual competition and to support the struggle on the world market with the large Anglo-Saxon banks. Thus was born the Deutsche und Diskonto Gesellschaft. After the serious crisis that the Darmstadter und national Bank went through in July 1931 (which in turn arose from the merger of Bank für Handel und Industrie of Darmstadt with the National Bank für Deutschland of Berlin, and specialized in foreign trade) also the merger of this with the Dresden Bank was decided (March 1932). Concentration is therefore increasingly a key feature of Germany’s banking system.
