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100 000 000 000 Mark

Issuer Stadtgemeinde Friedrichshafen (City of Friedrichshafen, Württemberg)
Year 1923
Type Local banknote
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Reverse description The same pink and blue wave-pattern underprint fills the field, enclosed by a toothed blue frame. At left, a large seated hare — the "Seehas", the folkloric symbol of the Lake Constance region — is rendered in detailed cross-hatched line work amid stylised foliage. To the right, a lakeside scene opens toward a radiant sun on the horizon, with two sailing vessels on the water and meadow flowers in the foreground. A four-line humorous verse in cursive Kurrent script arcs across the upper right, addressing the Seehas directly. The artist's signature "Haig." appears at lower left.
Reverse lettering O lieber Seehas, spring wie einst. Laß ab von Streit und Putschen Und laß den Weltschen, wenn er schreit den Buckel runter Rutschen.
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Comments

Friedrichshafen's hundred-billion Mark note belongs to the final, almost surreal phase of German hyperinflation — issued in late 1923 as the Reichsbank struggled to supply denominations fast enough for daily commerce. Municipal and district authorities across Württemberg stepped in as emergency issuers, producing Notgeld that, legally speaking, was not money at all but circulated as such out of sheer necessity. Friedrichshafen's version was printed locally, keeping costs down and turnaround short.

By the time notes at this denomination entered circulation, the Rentenmark stabilization was already being prepared. Most were spent and discarded within weeks.

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