It was 20 years ago, the first euro banknotes came to fill our machines, before becoming the daily newspaper of 340 million Europeans in 19 countries. The old national currencies have not disappeared, however, since they can be found in old furniture or under mattresses. In Germany, more than 43 million Deutsche Marks were exchanged for euros in 2021.
With our correspondent in Berlin, Julien Mechaussie
The Germans and the Deutsche Mark, a love story that continues 20 years later, and which is still far from over.
Germany is one of six European countries not to have set a time limit for exchanging the old currency born in 1948.
Symbol of the return to stability in the aftermath of the Second World War, the Germans still have a hard time turning the page.
According to the Federal Bank, there are still around 12 billion Deutsche Marks left in the country’s woolen stockings, the equivalent of 6 billion euros.
Sometimes with nice surprises, like this sports association from Saxony which recently discovered nearly 28,000 Deutsche Marks hidden in a piece of furniture that had been offered to it.
A Deutsche Mark with a tough skin. Very popular with collectors, its coins and banknotes still have a bright future ahead of them. According to the Federal Bank, enormous sums are also found abroad.
With its reputation as a reserve currency, the Deutsche Mark was also very popular outside Germany’s borders.
►RFI Knowledge: In Germany, the nostalgia of the Mark