The exact answer to this question does not exist. There are several versions of why Germany keeps most of its gold reserves outside the state. Germany ranks second in the world (after the United States) in gold: 3396 tons, but only a little more than 31% of all this wealth is stored in the German Federal Bank. 45% of Germany’s gold reserves are in the US vaults, 13% and 11% in France in Britain.
Version One - Political
It is believed that Germany was afraid of the attack of the USSR, and therefore began to store its national wealth in the United States. However, why, then, part of the gold was sent to France and the UK, which are also not far from Germany. It turns out that in the event of a possible offensive by the troops of the Soviet Union, these countries were also threatened.
There is a version that Germany began to store gold overseas in order to financially support its American allies. Since the 50s of the last century, the USA, France and Great Britain have experienced financial difficulties from time to time, and the young state of Germany needed their military protection. So it turned out such a mutually beneficial cooperation. Germany paid with gold stored in foreign vaults to guarantee its safety.
Version Two - Economic
Germany acquired the first batch of gold in 1951 (529 kg). In those years, most of the state was still destroyed after the Second World War, so Germany was not able then to provide reliable storage and transportation of the country's gold reserves. And so the tradition was laid, to keep Germany’s gold reserves abroad.
The Bundesbank can always take the necessary amount of dollars from the US Federal Reserve on the security of its gold reserve, and the American currency remains the main reserve currency in the world.
Holding gold on international trading floors, Germany has constant access to foreign currencies.
Why the USA does not give gold to Germany
However, recently in the FRG, dissatisfaction has begun to ripen with the fact that the bulk of the country's gold reserves are stored in the United States.
The reason was that recently, Berlin demanded from the United States to return 674 tons of gold, and received back only 5 tons, and then suddenly German officials somehow changed their minds about returning it from US stores.
Experts sounded the alarm. It is believed that German gold in the USA is simply gone. German journalist Jonas Felling comes to a disappointing conclusion: the United States has quietly used German gold to restrain world prices for this metal.
Official Berlin assures that there is no cause for concern. America is a very reliable partner and there is no reason not to trust it. In fact, the current situation looks very strange: they did not return the gold of Germany, well, okay. It is clear that Germany was simply forced to abandon its demands at the highest level.
Where is Russian gold stored
Russia did not take its gold to the United States. Gold reserves of Russia are stored in Moscow and Kazan. Now, if the Germans kept their gold in Moscow, they probably would have given it to them right away, on demand. Conclusion: you need to know who to trust.
