5 Deutsche Mark

The Deutsche Notenbank was the Soviet zone's central bank, and this 1948 issue was part of the currency reform that divided German monetary circulation as decisively as any wall would later divide its capital. The Western allies conducted their own reform — the Deutschmark — days earlier in June 1948, forcing the Soviet administration into an accelerated counter-reform that produced these notes under considerable pressure.

Printing was contracted to the Staatsdruckerei Wien — the Austrian state printing works in Vienna — an unusual choice driven by the limited availability of suitable printing facilities in the Soviet-occupied zone at the time.