On 1 July 1990, German monetary union took effect and the Deutsche Mark became the sole currency in East Germany. A Deutsche Bundesbank retrospective says many citizens waited in long queues outside banks from the night before the first notes were paid out. Fifteen new branches were established to distribute cash locally.
What distinguishes this queue is that exchanging cash was the moment of an economic system changing over. People were not waiting merely for different banknotes. At the bank line they crossed a boundary in which prices, wages and savings acquired a new unit overnight.