The architectural design competition for the planned new builds on the campus of the Bundesbank’s Frankfurt Central Office has come to a close. A jury of 13, made up of renowned architects and representatives from the Bundesbank and the City of Frankfurt am Main, concluded two days of deliberations by selecting six prize winners and awarding two honourable mentions out of a total of 29 designs entered in the competition.

Patricia Staab will assume her post as the new President of the Bundesbank’s Regional Office in Baden-Württemberg with effect from 1 October 2019. She will succeed Bernhard Sibold, who will be retiring after a 39-year career at the Bundesbank. At a handover ceremony in Stuttgart, she was congratulated by Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who took the opportunity to address the current decision by the Governing Council of the ECB.

The German government has decided to mint a €10 collectors’ coin entitled “Fire brigade”, to be issued at 11 May 2023.

At first the euro was mistrusted, with many calling it the “teuro” (“expensive euro”). Around 20 years ago, 70% of the participants in a survey by the Institut für Demoskopie responded that they had “little or no trust” in the euro, which had been introduced in cash form on 1 January 2002. Today, 82% of Germans support the euro. The Bundesbank played a key role in the introduction of euro cash in January 2002.

The so-called Blessing letter, dated 30 March 1967, forms part of the correspondence between the President of the Deutsche Bundesbank at the time, Karl Blessing, and the then Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, William Martin. Blessing addresses US concerns that the Bundesbank might convert US dollars into gold on a massive scale.