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How did the Great Depression affect Germany's industrial production?

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A long line of unemployed men in coats and hats stands outside a soup kitchen in Chicago, with a storefront sign reading Free Soup, Coffee and Doughnuts for the Unemployed. — Great Depression Unemployed men standing in line outside a soup kitchen, Chicago.

The Great Depression had a severe impact on Germany's industrial production, which experienced a decline roughly equal in magnitude to that seen in the United States.1

Germany’s economic downturn began early in 1928, stabilized briefly, and then declined again in the third quarter of 1929. This slump was exacerbated by the country's heavy reliance on foreign credits; when these loans were called in, the German economy suffered more severely than that of any other nation. As the Depression took hold, foreign trade was drastically curtailed, and the number of bankruptcies increased daily.12

The economic contraction led to a sharp rise in unemployment and political instability, which ultimately undermined the Weimar Republic and contributed to the rise of extremist parties. Germany did not begin to recover from this industrial decline until the fall of 1932.21