Nearly a quarter of a century after the euro replaced the Deutsche Mark, Germans continue to exchange significant amounts of their former currency, according to data from the Bundesbank.
In 2024 alone, around 53 million Deutsche Marks—valued at approximately €27.2 million—were exchanged, marking a slight decline from 2023, when 58 million Deutsche Marks were handed in. Germany is one of six countries, alongside Austria, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, that still allow their former currencies to be converted into euros.
Despite the euro becoming the official currency on 1 January 2002, the Bundesbank estimates that around 12.2 billion Deutsche Marks, equivalent to approximately €6.24 billion, remain unexchanged more than two decades later.
