1 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion

The German railway administrations — the Reichsbahndirektionen — became emergency currency issuers during the hyperinflation of 1923 out of pure necessity. The Reichsbank could not print and distribute notes fast enough to meet payroll, so regional railway directorates were authorized to issue their own Notgeld to pay workers directly. The Karlsruhe directorate controlled rail operations across Baden, a strategically significant network given the French occupation of the Ruhr that same year and the resulting disruption to west German freight and coal traffic.

Railway Notgeld at this denomination was typically redeemable only within the issuing directorate's jurisdiction, which kept it out of general commerce faster than most municipal issues.