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Paper money of Baden and Württemberg

The collection features the paper money issued in the historical states of Baden and Württemberg up to the 1930s, subdivided in each case into the state paper money issued and the "emergency money", known as "Notgeld" in German.

In the Grand Duchy of Baden, the state issued paper money from 1849. However, it was not until 1870 that the Grand Duchy was to have its own bank of issue, the Badische Bank in Mannheim. During the Kaiserreich, or German Empire, it issued a series of 100-mark notes and, in the early 1920s, inflation money. The Badische Bank did not formally lose its right to issue banknotes until 1935.

The Kingdom of Württemberg also began issuing state paper money in 1849. The establishment of a central bank, which came somewhat later than in neighbouring Baden, did not take place until 1871 with the founding of the Württembergische Notenbank (Württemberg Central Bank) in Stuttgart. The bank's 100-mark notes were issued in many editions. The notes issued in response to the rise in inflation reached values of up to 500 billion marks. When the currency became stable in 1924, the right of the Württembergische Notenbank to issue banknotes was renewed, but ultimately expired in 1935.

The emergency money that was issued by municipalities and private institutions in both Baden and Württemberg initially served to counter the (small) cash shortages of the First World War and the post-war period. In the ensuing phase of hyperinflation between 1922 and 1923, attempts were made to cope with the rapid devaluation of money and the need for ever higher-value banknotes by printing emergency money.

The partial collections of "Paper money of Baden and Württemberg" available on bavarikon

>> This collection is part of the holdings of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes)