20 Deutsche Mark

The 1960 series — the BBk I/1960 in Bundesbank internal classification — was the first complete postwar redesign to move away from the transitional Allied occupation aesthetic toward something distinctly West German in character. Max Bittrof, who had worked on German banknote design since the Weimar period, brought considerable institutional continuity to the project; his involvement bridged the republic's currency discontinuity in ways the notes themselves were meant to project.

The Bundesdruckerei had operated under the name Reichsdruckerei until 1951, and the Berlin facility remained the sole production site despite its geographically exposed position inside the GDR — a deliberate political choice to assert West German presence in the city.