title. Lina Braake Bank LBB

date. 2021

exhibition. Art in the urban space of Karl-Marx-Allee, Berlin

size. various dimensions

materials. Plywood, paint, 20'' container (laminated), video projection, screen printing workshop

Bracteates were coins minted on one side from sheet metal and were often used in the Middle Ages as so-called demurrage money. 

The respective regional powers could decide when their validity expired and when they had to be exchanged for newly issued money. The bracteates lost value in this exchange. This meant that citizens had an interest in passing on the money as quickly as possible. It could therefore not be hoarded.

Today's bracteates are also issued as demurrage money (unlike fiat money) and can be withdrawn and exchanged for new bracteates if necessary. However, this process can only be carried out after the first payments have been made to the respective real estate companies. 

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The aim of modern Braacteates (Bkt) is to keep rents for apartments at an affordable and reasonable level or to reduce them accordingly. This is achieved by buying back apartments from large real estate companies and funds and socializing or remunicipalizing them. They serve as a fiscal policy tool to keep compensation payments affordable for local authorities and relieve the burden on public coffers. 

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Braacteates are a time-based currency. They are only created by Lina Braake Bank (LBB) within a specified period (June to September 2021) and cannot be reproduced after this time. This limitation means that an increase in value is inherent. The Brakteaten are put into circulation as notes and cash. The total number of notes is limited to 10,000. They are created by LBB itself or by tenants who participate in money creation and thus personalize their claims against large real estate investors. Each note can be represented by several tenants and thus corresponds to the fractional claim of these groups or communities to the remunicipalization of corresponding apartments or houses (fractional reserve banking).