The Myth of Weimar Inflation

In an otherwise fascinating piece in the Financial Times detailing the darkest hour of the Euro crisis (sorry, the article is behind a pay wall), the author haphazardly throws in the line, "German opposition [to the ECB guaranteeing European sovereign debt] was rooted in its dark history: the hyperinflation of the interwar years that helped doom the Weimar Republic."  It's the kind of line that is meant to add a universal gravitas to the article.  It connects this meeting of world leaders in 2011 to the world altering events of the 1930s.  If you're serious about politics, economics, or finance, then you shake your head in agreement when you read this sentence, recognizing that today's events possesses historical significance.  The problem is, this sentence, while something that everyone seems to know, is absolutely false.      

Yes, Weimar Germany experienced inflation... hyperinflation... but it had nothing to do with the downfall of the Republic or the rise of Nazi political power (the darkness referred to above).  The hyperinflation occurred between 1921-1924.  By late 1924, the Republic had issued a new currency, prices stabilized, the economy began to grow, and the period 1924-1929 became known as the Goldene Zwanziger (the Golden Twenties).  Furthermore, the Nazi party, which was founded in 1920 with roots dating back to WWI, only won 6.5% of the popular vote in the first federal election in which they participated (1924).  Four years later, their popularity shrank to a mere 2.6% share of the vote.

I find it very difficult squaring these election results with the claim that the hyperinflation of 1921-1924 had anything to do with the rise of Nazism, which dissolved the Republic in 1933.  To explain the transition from Weimar Germany to Nazi Germany, one must look to the years between 1928 and 1932, when the Nazi party went from 2.6% of the vote to 18.3% in 1930 and then doubled again in 1932.  What happened during these years?  Well, the exact opposite of inflation (the red line is the price level).