500 000 000 Mark

Ludwigshafen's municipal administration issued this 500-million-mark note during the autumn of 1923, when hyperinflation had advanced far enough that denominations once considered unimaginable were simply the week's practical necessity. Weiss & Hameier — a local commercial printer, not a specialist banknote firm — produced the note in the same city where it circulated, an arrangement born purely of urgency. Major printing houses were overwhelmed; municipalities turned to whoever had a press.

By the time notes of this denomination reached the public, the Reichsmark reform was already being prepared. Most Notgeld of this magnitude had a lifespan measured in days before it was rendered worthless by yet another zeros-adding decree.