1 000 000 Mark Thüringische Staatsbank, brown issue

The Thüringische Staatsbank was one of dozens of German regional and municipal authorities that issued their own emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923 — a period when the Reichsbank's output simply could not keep pace with denominations that were doubling by the week. By August of that year, one million marks was barely enough for a tram fare in some cities. The brown color variant of this note distinguishes it from at least one other color run of the same denomination, a common production shortcut when printers were switching paper stocks or ink batches mid-run to meet impossible demand schedules.

Weimar, as the Staatsbank's home city, handled its own presswork — an unusual degree of localization even by the standards of the Notgeld period.