5 000 000 Mark

Essen's municipal administration, like dozens of German cities in 1923, was forced into issuing its own emergency currency — Notgeld — because the Reichsbank simply could not print fast enough to keep pace with hyperinflation. By the time five-million-mark notes were being issued at the local level, the denomination itself was already losing purchasing power within days of printing. The Ruhr occupation by French and Belgian forces beginning in January 1923 made the regional situation considerably worse, disrupting industrial output in the heart of Germany's coal and steel belt.

Municipal issues from this period were printed locally on whatever paper stock was available, and quality varies considerably across surviving examples.