Almost half of the German gold reserves are still stored in New York and London. Why is that? And why doesn’t the Bundesbank bring the gold home?
In times of increasing alienation between Washington and Berlin, it may be surprising that over a third of the German gold reserves are still stored by the US Federal Reserve. Finally, the voices that require repatriation of these reserves have become common.
“Bring our gold home,” said Michael Jäger, President of the European Taxpayer Association, on ZDF. Such demands are fired by the repeated attacks by US President Donald Trump against central bank boss Jerome Powell, with whom he undisingly questions the independence of the American central banking system.
In fact, the German gold reserves abroad have long been a dispute, which some myths rank. The German Bundesbank is not entirely innocent. Until 2013, she published the overall stock of the reserves annually, but was largely covered as it was internationally distributed. That has changed fundamentally: since then, the central bank has been trying for transparency.
How big are the German gold reserves?
Germany has the second largest gold reserves in the world according to those of the United States. According to the Bundesbank annual report, they were 3,352 tons at the end of 2024, which corresponded to a record value of 270.58 billion euros. Of these, 1,710 tons were stored, around 51 percent, in a place in Frankfurt am Main, which is still unknown.
If you take into account the strong price increase of the gold of a good quarter of the year, the pure market value of the German gold currently corresponds to around 340 billion euros. However, it should be taken into account that a sale of German reserves would probably be difficult to burden the gold market, i.e. a clear discount on the current market value would be to be calculated.
How much German gold is still stored abroad?
1,236 tons of gold, still almost 37 percent of German reserves, are stored in the Sereals of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The remaining 409 tons, around 12.2 percent, are kept by the Bank of England in London.
The Bundesbank dismantled its foreign stocks between 2013 and 2017. A total of 300 tons were shifted from New York to Germany. The 374 tons that were previously stored in Paris were completely transmitted.
At that time, the Bundesbank justified its new storage concept with the changed geopolitical situation and free -facing safe capacities in Germany.
The then board member Johannes Beermann also led to the reason that the gold stock in Frankfurt was “a trust anchor for the value of the balance” and “had a high symbolic value for the population”. “But the gold could not be exchanged directly into foreign reserve currencies in Frankfurt in the event of an emergency or crisis. In these cases, the Bundesbank continues to keep gold abroad.”
Is a further transfer of stocks planned?
There are currently no specific plans. However, the Bundesbank refers to its storage concept: “The aim of the targets of security and tradability is primarily decisive for the weighting of the gold reserves in order to sell gold or exchange gold if necessary. Based on these criteria, the Deutsche Bundesbank regularly evaluates the storage positions of its gold posture,” explains a spokesman. The cost efficiency of storage also plays a role.
“The New York Fed is and remains an important storage point for our gold in this context,” said the Bundesbank spokesman. “We have no doubt that with the Fed New York we have a trustworthy, reliable partner in storing our gold stocks.”
London, on the other hand, is the largest and most liquid gold trade in the world, which would enable considerable stocks in the event of a crisis.
Why does German gold be stored abroad at all?
The reasons lie in the Great Depression after the Second World War. After the Gold of the Reichsbank had been confiscated by the Allies, the gold stocks of the young Federal Republic were zero. So no gold stocks of the Federal Republic were made to the USA, England or France, but they were partially paid for their highs Civil record surpluses have been credited since 1951. This was the case with the rules of the then European Payment Union (EZU) and the international currency system of Bretton Woods. However, this gold was not delivered to Germany, but mostly remained at the large gold trade places in the United States, Great Britain and France.
In 2013, 69 percent of German gold reserves were stored abroad. Safety aspects also played a major role. During the Cold War, the area of power of the Soviet Union extended to the border of the Federal Republic,, So that it was obvious to leave the reserves in storage positions further west.
How is the inventory checked?
While the reserves in New York and London could be liquidated quickly, the question arises as to how Germany can effectively control its existence abroad.
In addition, the Bundesbank sends “inspection teams” to New York and London “at regular intervals”. These inspectors check a sample of gold bars you have selected in advance, which the foreign bank physically presents you. The barring data and the fine content are compared with your own data.
“Furthermore, the bars are weighed on site and checked for authenticity with their own test devices,” explains a spokesman for the Bundesbank. “There were never any disabilities or restrictions on the part of the Fed New York or Bank of England storage positions in these inspections.”
In any case, access by the USA or Great Britain hardly seems conceivable. “According to the principles of international law, currency reserves are protected against access to the host country’s enforcement organs,” explains the Bundesbank. The Bundesbank publishes the exact stocks annually in its gold bar list, which recently performed on 2,373 pages of each single gold bar.
Why doesn’t Germany make gold in money?
The discussion about the gold reserves is old: the budget situation has often led to desires among politicians to “silver” part of the reserves and thus to stuff gaps in the federal budget, to reform the healthcare system or pension.
However, an intervention in the reserves would, in the opinion of currency experts, shake confidence in the euro, but also the solvency of the Federal Republic, which is already being strained by significant new debt. The Bundesbank also leads the universal acceptance of gold as a means of payment, the diversification of currency reserves and the robustness of the country against shock.
In Germany in particular, comparatively high gold stocks appear justified, even beyond the high emotional importance of the precious metal only limited. The Germans had to experience two currency collapse in the 20th century. The gold reserves are a “great trust anchor among the population,” said Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel.
