20 Mark

Wiesbaden's municipal government issued this Notgeld note under wartime necessity — by 1918, the Reichsbank's coin and small-denomination note supply had collapsed under the weight of four years of war finance, forcing cities, towns, and even individual businesses across Germany to print their own emergency currency. The Magistrat der Residenzstadt designation reflects Wiesbaden's status as a royal residence city under the Duchy of Nassau's old administrative heritage, a title retained largely for prestige by that point.

Municipal Notgeld at the 20 Mark level is less common than the pfennig and low-mark denominations that dominated local issue — most emergency money circulated in fractional amounts to substitute for hoarded coin, making a 20 Mark piece a relatively high-value instrument for its type.