1 Mark

Rothenburg ob der Tauber was one of hundreds of German municipalities forced into emergency currency production during the early 1920s inflation spiral, when Reichsbank notes were hoarded and small denomination coin had essentially vanished from circulation. The Stadtkasse — the municipal treasury — became a de facto issuing authority by necessity, not by any formal banking mandate.

A print run of over twelve million for a single municipal note is unusually high and reflects how rapidly velocity of circulation was destroying purchasing power by mid-1921. Notes of this type often wore out within weeks. Adolf Hofe's involvement as designer gives the piece more intentional aesthetic consideration than most Notgeld of the period, where graphic quality was entirely secondary to speed of production.