20 000 000 Mark

Burg bei Magdeburg was one of hundreds of German municipalities forced into emergency currency production during the hyperinflation of 1923, when the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. By the time denominations reached the twenty-million mark range — mid-summer 1923 — such notes were often obsolete within days of issue, their face value consumed by inflation before they could complete a single transaction.

The watermarked paper is notable for a municipal issue of this kind; many Notgeld producers at this level cut costs wherever possible, and a security substrate suggests either existing stock or a deliberate — if ultimately futile — gesture toward legitimacy.