Until the beginning of the 20th century, German money was the daily means of payment in Aalten. This was due on the one hand to the lively trade with Germany and on the other because many residents of Aalten worked in the textile factories in Bocholt. They were paid in German money and put this into circulation in Aalten.
In 1937, G.H. Rots described in a series of articles how things were done in Aalten in former times. For instance, he wrote about the local payment transactions:
“…Speaking of agio, that was caused by the German money that was in circulation here and was the daily means of payment. It was such that Dutch currency was rarely seen. If one needed ‘Dutch money’, for example for taxes, one had to go to a few individuals who ran large businesses to exchange German money. Until the beginning of this century, the circulation of German money in our municipality was still common.
When the government wanted to take measures to prohibit that circulation, many people resisted. The association ‘Aalten’s Belang’ became involved, and within that association, a fierce struggle arose over the abolition or retention of German money. In Hotel De Roskam, owned by Mr. Voorderman, well-attended meetings were held. Those who conducted a lot of trade with Germany or had German customers in their shops saw a significant disadvantage in the abolition of German money.
That trade with Germany was quite busy. There were almost no border restrictions, and on the Bocholt market days, numerous merchants went there to sell their wares. And those who worked in Germany also naturally received their wages in German money and put this back into circulation in our municipality. One should therefore not think too lightly of it. And at one of the meetings of Aalten’s Belang, it came to heated debates, and even the continued existence of the association was jeopardized as a result of this issue. Finally, the abolition was introduced in July 1914, and the population adapted to it.”
