50 000 000 Mark

Krefeld's 50-million Mark note dates from the absolute peak of the Weimar hyperinflation — by August 1923, municipal authorities across Germany were printing their own emergency currency (Notgeld) simply because the Reichsbank could not distribute denominations fast enough to keep pace with collapsing purchasing power. Cities, companies, and even individual businesses became de facto issuers out of sheer logistical necessity.

Wilhelm Wefers was a local Krefeld printer, not a specialist banknote manufacturer. That matters: the production quality of municipally-commissioned emergency issues varied enormously, and notes printed by small regional firms are generally more susceptible to paper degradation than those produced by establishments with security-printing infrastructure.

The signature of Dr. Johansen places administrative accountability on the city government rather than any banking institution.