5 000 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion

The Reichsbahn-Direktionen — regional railway directorates — issued emergency currency during the hyperinflation of 1923 under the same necessity that drove municipalities, factories, and utilities across Germany to print their own Notgeld. Dresden's directorate issued this 5,000,000 Mark note as the Reichsmark's purchasing power collapsed so rapidly that the central government could not supply denominations fast enough to meet payroll and operational needs. Railway workers had to be paid, trains had to run, and waiting for Berlin was not an option.

By August–November 1923, denominations that had seemed astronomical weeks earlier became inadequate within days. This note belongs to that final, violent phase of the inflation before the Rentenmark stabilization of November 1923 ended the crisis.