The changeover from the Deutsche Mark
At the stroke of midnight on 1 January 2002, amidst firework displays across the European mainland, euro notes and coins were introduced into Germany, Austria and 10 other member states of the European unio. The old German currency, die Deutsche Mark (DM) or die D-Mark (but NOT "Deutschmark"!) was still legal tender until 28 February 2002, after which point der Euro (€ or EUR) became the only acceptable currency in Germany. Should you still have any German marks or pfennigs (the smaller denomination of the old currency), it is still possible to exchange them at German banks. Postage stamps issued in D-Marks ceased to be legally valid in June 2002.
As you can imagine, changing the currency proved to be a huge logistical undertaking which in itself is estimated to have cost 2.4 billion Marks. 28.5 billion coins and 2.6 billion notes from the D-Mark era needed to be taken out of circulation, whilst at the same time 15.5 billion coins and 2.5 billion euro banknotes needed to be introduced to shops, banks and cashpoints (see picture).
Yet the changeover passed smoothly, not least because Germans had been well prepared for it by a Government information campaign. Furthermore, although the euro notes and coins were only introduced into circulation at the start of 2002, the new currency could be used from 1 January 1999 onwards in the form of "written money" - that is, by means of cheques, travellers' cheques, bank transfers and credit cards. Thus many German employees could choose whether they wished to be paid in euros or marks. Nevertheless, it was calculated in May 2005 that coins to the value of 3.72 thousand million Deutschmarks and notes to the value of 3.94 thousand million Marks were still in circulation. The German Bundesbank believes however that much of this is money that has either been lost or destroyed.
As the pictures below indicate, shops and supermarkets started to list prices in both marks and euros from 1999 onwards:
But although the advantages of a single European currency have been widely accepted, many Germans nevertheless bade farewell to the mark with great reluctance. The mark had been a symbol of fifty years of German post-War reliability and economic revival, banishing the traumatic memories of hyper-inflation in the 1920's, when the currency was worth that little that people needed to transport it in wheelbarrows if they needed to buy something substantial. Since the mark became fully convertible in 1958, no other major currency, including the Japanese yen or the Swiss franc, had been stronger. It had become the second-largest currency component of global monetary reserves, second only to the United States dollar - which itself lost about two-thirds of its value against the Deutsche Mark since 1958.
German suspicions about the euro have been increased by popular fears that manufacturers and shopkeepers took advantage of the introduction of the new currency to raise prices on the sly. The price of everyday times staples such as bread and restaurant meals have been particularly affected, with price rises of 100% being registered on some consumer staples. Consumer groups and tabloid newspapers have rechristened the new currency "der Teuro", which is a play on the German word for expensive "teuer".
As the alleged price increases were not reflected in the rate of inflation, the German government was initially slow to react to popular discontent. Having been overcharged for a sandwich in May 2002 however, Finance Minister Hans Eichel called for a consumer boycott of businesses which had tried to cash in on the currency changeover. Consumer affairs minister Renate Künast has also convened a meeting with retail and trade groups to push for "a return to fair prices."
