20 000 000 Mark

Stuttgart issued this note during the hyperinflation peak of 1923, when municipal governments across Germany were forced to print emergency currency — Notgeld — because Reichsbank notes could not be produced fast enough to meet daily transactional demand. The Stadtpflege, Stuttgart's civic treasury office, acted as the issuing authority rather than a commercial bank, a common arrangement for Württemberg's larger cities that gave local government direct control over the emission.

At 20 million Mark, this denomination reflects the late-summer acceleration of 1923 before the stabilization brought by the Rentenmark in November. Notes of this face value had purchasing power measured in days, sometimes hours.