In the early 1920s, many young men left the "Strimmiger Berg" to go to Cologne, where money could be earned in factories and coalpits. However, once the French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr area in 1923, they came back home. As was so throughout Germany, make-work measures were undertaken. Several roads were built on the "Strimmiger Berg" by means of the Ruhr impost. Owing to inflation, a 21-year-old worker earned up to 35,000 Marks each day. Now, in a reversal of the former trend, people from Cologne were coming to Strimmig to hoard, steal and trade. The farmers, though, were unwilling to yield up very much, given the money's meagre worth.