10 Pfennig Württemberg-Hohenzollern, French occupation

Württemberg-Hohenzollern was an artificial administrative unit created by French occupation authorities in 1945 from the southern portions of the former states of Württemberg and Hohenzollern — territory that had never previously existed as a single political entity. The Finanzministerium issued this low-denomination note in 1947, a period when Allied-zone Germany was still operating without a unified currency, leaving each occupation zone to manage its own monetary patchwork.

Knapp & Cie. AG in Reutlingen was a well-established printing firm with deep roots in commercial and financial printing — a logical choice for an occupation administration that needed local production capacity without access to the major prewar Reich printers.