500 000 Mark Reichsbahndirektion

During the hyperinflation of 1923, the German national railway administration was among hundreds of regional and municipal entities authorized to issue notgeld — emergency currency — simply because the Reichsbank could not print fast enough to meet demand. The Reichsbahn-Direktion Dresden was the regional railway directorate responsible for Saxony, and its notes circulated as functional wage and transaction currency among rail workers and suppliers in the district.

Stengel & Co. were primarily known as a postcard and fine art reproduction printer, not a banknote house. Their involvement here is a direct consequence of the crisis — conventional security printers were overwhelmed, and local commercial printers with any decent press capacity were pressed into service.