1 000 000 Mark Messamt für die Mustermessen in Leipzig

The Messamt für die Mustermessen in Leipzig — the trade fair office responsible for organizing the Leipzig Sample Fair — issued its own emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923, as virtually every German municipality, utility, and commercial body was forced to do once Reichsbank notes became worthless faster than they could be printed. The Leipzig trade fair was one of the most commercially significant in central Europe, and the Messamt had both the institutional standing and the immediate practical need to pay exhibitors, porters, and vendors on-site in usable scrip.

At one million Mark, this note was already a mid-range denomination by summer 1923 standards — within weeks of comparable issues, that figure had become inadequate for a single tram fare.