500 Mark

Essen's 1922 Notgeld issue was a direct response to the hyperinflationary spiral that had rendered Reichsbank supply chains unable to keep denominations current with prices. Municipal authorities across Germany were legally permitted — and effectively compelled — to print emergency money to meet payroll and local commerce. Essen, as the industrial heart of the Ruhr, had a particular urgency: the Krupp works alone employed tens of thousands who needed wages in physical notes.

The 500 Mark denomination was already anachronistic almost from the moment of printing — by late 1922, weekly wage requirements had blown past it entirely.