The overall effect of the hyperinflation was not just a decline in living standards but also a severe disruption of the boundaries between social groups. For small pensioners [Kleinrentner] of the so-called Mittelstand, which was made up of civil servants, teachers, shopkeepers, and others, the situation was particularly catastrophic. For a period in 1923, the Sportpalast in Berlin was turned into a marketplace, where people sold off their household porcelain, silver, furniture, and anything else of value.