20 years after the introduction of the euro: 12 billion D-Marks still in circulation

Created: 12/30/2021, 05:16 AM

Euro and D-Mark banknotes in the Landeszentralbank in Frankfurt am Main.

The D-Mark is still present in the minds of the citizens.

© Frank May / dpa

Even after 20 years, the D-Mark is still present in the minds of many people.

Since then, there have been ups and downs in the history of the euro.

Berlin - As far as their currency is concerned, Germans tend to be nostalgic: According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, more than twelve billion D-Marks are still in circulation in the form of coins and notes. And that although the 20th anniversary of the introduction of euro cash on January 1st. In 1998 the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU) praised the European economic and monetary union as “the most important decision since German reunification”. The introduction of the euro is "in the very best interests of Germany" because it consolidates Europe as an area of ​​economic stability, Kohl enthused in a government statement.

A good year after the introduction of the euro in 2003, the CDU * politician showed significantly more sobriety.

"We would have very likely lost a referendum on the introduction of the euro and the abolition of the D-Mark," admitted Kohl in an interview that Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) only broadcast in full in 2015 on the occasion of his 85th birthday.

20 years after the introduction of the euro: 12 billion D-Marks still in circulation

The introduction of the euro was preceded by a difficult political compromise between Germany and France *: Paris approved German reunification, but Berlin renounced the much-loved D-Mark. Even years after the D-Mark disappeared from the wallet, the European common currency met with a mixed response in Germany: The call of a "Teuro" echoed for years because of the increased cost of living.

In the financial and debt crisis, calls for an exclusion of Greece *, which had fooled itself into joining the currency area with neat arithmetic, increased.

"If the euro fails, Europe fails", warned the then Chancellor Angela Merkel * (CDU) in 2010, justifying rescue packages worth billions as "no alternative".

Today the euro is "not only a uniform means of payment, but also an expression of European identity," the Federal Ministry of Finance recently emphasized.

The euro conceived as a competitor to the US dollar - Lagarde relies on the development of digital currency

Conceived as a competitor to the US dollar, the euro was unable to replace the North American currency.

In the Corona * pandemic, the dollar was able to strengthen its image as a “safe haven” - despite all the trials and tribulations of the USA under ex-President Donald Trump *.

The dollar remains by far the international reserve currency: around 60 percent of central bank foreign currencies are quoted in dollars, the euro only represents around 20 percent.

Considerations to strengthen the euro have so far fizzled out, says a person in charge in Brussels.

"Everyone agrees when it comes to the principle of a bigger role for the euro in the world - but there is no agreement on how to get there," he says, referring to the 27 member states.

If Christine Lagarde has its way, the euro could be given a new look: The head of the European Central Bank is promoting the development of a digital euro to complement cash * - in competition with unregulated crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, which are a thorn in the side of central banks .

In the meantime, many D-Mark coins and notes are still slumbering in the cracks of the sofa or on the storerooms of elderly relatives.

Incidentally, those who find them don't have to worry: they can be exchanged “for an unlimited period of time”, as the Bundesbank emphasizes.