How Germany got its gold back

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Today, Germany is one of the biggest holders of gold in the world: it owns 3,378 tonnes, worth €119bn, second only to the US. But until recently, most of that gold was stored in New York, London and Paris. When the country decided to bring half of its gold back home, Mr Thiele was put in charge.

Over the past five years, he has masterminded the transportation of almost 54,000 gold bars — each with a value of just under $510,000 — to Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, moving $27bn (in today’s prices) from the vaults of the US Federal Reserve and the Banque de France. The last bars arrived at the Bundesbank’s headquarters, a few kilometres north of Frankfurt’s city centre, in August. But how Germany’s gold came to be abroad is a story that goes back to the second world war and beyond.

How Germany got its gold back