Germany Gold Reserves: How Much Gold Does Germany Have?

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Germany holds about 3,350 tonnes of gold, the second-largest official gold reserve in the world after the United States. The reserve is managed by the Deutsche Bundesbank. According to World Gold Council figures for the end of 2025, it stands at 3,350.25 tonnes and makes up more than 80% of Germany’s official reserves. At the end of 2025, the Bundesbank valued its gold at €395.2 billion.

Unusually for a country’s gold, a large share of it is not kept at home. At the end of 2025, the Bundesbank held 1,710 tonnes in its own vaults in Frankfurt and 1,236 tonnes at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Another 404 tonnes were held at the Bank of England in London. Between 2013 and 2017, the Bundesbank brought 674 tonnes home from Paris and New York, so that half of German gold reserves are now stored in Frankfurt. The New York holding remains a subject of political debate in Germany, with calls in 2025 and 2026 to bring more of it back.

This guide covers how much gold Germany has and where it is stored, how the reserve was built up after the Second World War, the repatriation programme, and the questions that have been raised over audits and transparency. For how Germany compares with other countries, see our guide to gold reserves by country.

How Much Gold Does Germany Have?

Germany has about 3,350 tonnes of gold, or around 107.7 million fine troy ounces. The World Gold Council puts the exact figure at 3,350.25 tonnes for the end of 2025. That makes Germany’s gold reserve the second-largest in the world after US gold reserves, and larger than those of Italy and France, the next two holders.

German gold reserves	Figure
Tonnes	3,350.25
Fine troy ounces (approx.)	107.7 million
Value (Bundesbank, end of 2025)	€395.2 billion
Share of total reserves	82.2%
World ranking	2nd
Held in Frankfurt	1,710 tonnes (51%)
Gold per resident (approx.)	40 grams

Sources: Deutsche Bundesbank, end-2025; World Gold Council, end-2025.

The gold is held on the balance sheet of the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank and part of the Eurosystem. Like other euro area central banks, the Bundesbank values its gold at market prices at the end of each year, unlike the US Treasury, which still uses a fixed price from 1973. A sharp rise in the gold price lifted the value of Germany’s reserve from just over €270 billion at the end of 2024 to €395.2 billion a year later, with no change in the amount of gold held.

Germany’s holdings have barely changed in decades. The Bundesbank does not buy or sell gold on the market. The only gold it gives up is small amounts sold to the German federal government for minting gold collector coins. In 2025, that took 1.26 tonnes out of the reserve. Germany’s reserve works out at about 40 grams of gold for every person in the country. That is much less per head than Switzerland, at around 115 grams, but far more than the US, at about 24 grams. With gold making up more than 80% of its reserves, Germany is among the most gold-heavy of the world’s major central banks, alongside the United States, Italy and France.

Where Is Germany’s Gold Stored?

Germany keeps its gold in three places. The Bundesbank’s own vaults in Frankfurt hold just over half. The rest is at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Bank of England in London. At the end of 2025, the split was:

Location	Tonnes	Share of total
Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main	1,710	51.0%
Federal Reserve Bank of New York	1,236	36.9%
Bank of England, London	404	12.1%
Total	3,350	100%

Source: Deutsche Bundesbank, end-2025. Tonnages rounded.

The Bundesbank says it keeps gold abroad so that, in a crisis, it could be exchanged quickly for foreign currencies at major gold trading centres. Its partners in New York and London are central banks it describes as trustworthy and reliable. Most of the gold held abroad has been there since the 1950s and 1960s, when Germany converted the dollars it earned from trade surpluses into gold, and left much of it where it was received.

The share held at home has risen sharply over the last 15 years:

Date	Frankfurt	New York	London	Paris
End of 2011	1,036 t (31%)	1,536 t (45%)	450 t (13%)	374 t (11%)
End of 2015	1,402 t (41%)	1,347 t (40%)	435 t (13%)	196 t (6%)
August 2017	1,710 t (51%)	1,236 t (37%)	432 t (13%)	–
End of 2025	1,710 t (51%)	1,236 t (37%)	404 t (12%)	–

Source: Deutsche Bundesbank.

The holdings in Frankfurt and New York have not changed since 2017. The small fall in London reflects the gold the Bundesbank has supplied for German collector coins.

German Gold Repatriation

For decades, the Bundesbank did not publish where its gold was kept. In 2012, under pressure from German politicians, the public and a critical report by the Federal Court of Auditors, it disclosed the locations for the first time. In January 2013, it announced a new storage plan. By 2020, half of Germany’s gold would be stored in Frankfurt. To get there, it would bring home 300 tonnes from New York and all 374 tonnes held at the Banque de France in Paris.

The transfers took place in stages between 2013 and 2017:

Year	From Paris	From New York	Total
2013	32 t	5 t	37 t
2014	35 t	85 t	120 t
2015	111 t	99 t	210 t
2016	105 t	111 t	216 t
2017	91 t	–	91 t
Total	374 t	300 t	674 t

Source: Deutsche Bundesbank, August 2017.

The Bundesbank completed the plan in August 2017, around three years ahead of its 2020 deadline. It said every bar was inspected on arrival in Frankfurt, and that the checks found no irregularities in authenticity, fineness or weight.

This was not the first time the Bundesbank had moved gold home. Between 2000 and 2001, it quietly transferred more than 900 tonnes from the Bank of England to Frankfurt, cutting its London holdings by around two-thirds. The move only became public in 2012, when the Federal Court of Auditors’ report was published.

The Debate Over Gold in New York

The 1,236 tonnes still held in New York have become a political issue again. In 2025 and early 2026, German politicians and economists called for the Bundesbank to bring more of the gold home, or at least to inspect it regularly. They cited unease over US trade policy and the independence of the Federal Reserve. Those calling for change included a former head of research at the Bundesbank and politicians from both the CDU and the Greens. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has repeatedly said there is “no cause for concern”, describing the New York Fed as a trustworthy and reliable partner. In early 2026, the German government said bringing the gold home was not being considered.

History of Germany’s Gold Reserves

At the end of the Second World War, Germany had no gold reserves at all. Within 20 years, West Germany held one of the largest gold reserves in the world. That rapid build-up, and the decisions about where the gold was kept, explain why so much of Germany’s gold has been stored abroad.

Building the Reserve, 1951 to 1968

The Bundesbank’s records show that West Germany’s gold reserve began in 1951 at just 0.79 million ounces, about 25 tonnes. Over the following years, Germany’s post-war “economic miracle” produced large and persistent trade surpluses. Under the Bretton Woods system, foreign central banks could exchange their surplus dollars for US gold at US$35 an ounce, and the Bundesbank did so on a large scale. By the end of 1968, its reserve had reached 129.69 million ounces, about 4,034 tonnes, the peak in its history.

Much of this gold never travelled to Germany. It was credited to the Bundesbank in the places where it changed hands: New York, London and Paris. In the Cold War, with West Germany on the front line facing the Soviet bloc, keeping the gold in allied countries was also seen as a sensible precaution.

Supporting the Dollar

Germany’s gold also had political weight. In 1967, Bundesbank President Karl Blessing wrote to the US Federal Reserve promising that Germany would not convert its dollar holdings into gold. At the time, the US was struggling to defend the dollar’s link to gold, and US troops were stationed in West Germany. The “Blessing letter” is often cited as one reason Germany’s gold stayed in New York, rather than being taken home as France did under President de Gaulle.

The Euro and the Gold Sales Era

When the euro was launched in 1999, the Bundesbank transferred 7.46 million ounces, about 232 tonnes, to the European Central Bank as part of Germany’s contribution to the ECB’s reserves. In the years that followed, many European central banks sold large amounts of gold under the Central Bank Gold Agreements, including Switzerland, the Netherlands and France. The Bundesbank did not join them. Apart from small sales to the federal government for minting gold coins, it kept its gold. As a result, Germany’s reserve has stayed between about 3,350 and 3,450 tonnes for more than two decades, while other countries’ reserves fell sharply.

Audits, Bar Lists and Transparency

For much of its history, the Bundesbank said very little about how its gold was checked. That changed in 2012, when Germany’s Federal Court of Auditors (Bundesrechnungshof) published a report criticising how the gold held abroad was supervised. The auditors found that the gold stored with foreign central banks had never been physically verified by the Bundesbank. Instead, it relied on written confirmations from the banks holding it. The court called on the Bundesbank to secure access to the storage sites and to bring home 150 tonnes from New York over three years, so that their weight and quality could be checked.

The Bundesbank Gold Bar List

The report, together with a campaign in Germany called “Repatriate our Gold”, led directly to the Bundesbank’s 2013 storage plan. It also led to more transparency. In October 2015, the Bundesbank published a list of every gold bar in Germany’s reserve, giving each bar’s location, inventory number, weight and fineness. It published an updated list after the repatriation was completed. Few central banks publish anything like this, and the Bundesbank presented the list as a response to public concern.

Critics, including BullionStar analyst Koos Jansen and the “Repatriate our Gold” campaign, welcomed the list but pointed out its limits. For most bars it gives the Bundesbank’s own inventory number, not the number stamped on the bar by the refiner. It also omits the refiner’s name and the year the bar was made. Without those details, the list cannot be cross-checked against other records to confirm that each bar exists only once. The Bundesbank also melted down and recast some of the older bars brought back from New York in 2013 and 2014, which critics said made independent checks harder. BullionStar covered the list in detail when it was released. You can read Koos Jansen’s analysis of the Bundesbank bar list, and the critique by Peter Boehringer, who led the “Repatriate our Gold” campaign.

How Germany’s Gold Is Checked Today

The Bundesbank says the gold brought to Frankfurt between 2013 and 2017 was checked bar by bar on arrival, with no irregularities found in authenticity, fineness or weight. For the 1,640 tonnes still held in New York and London, it continues to rely on confirmations from its partner central banks and on its own staff visiting. No independent physical count of that gold has been published, which is why calls for regular inspections continue.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much gold does Germany have?

Germany has 3,350.25 tonnes of gold, according to World Gold Council figures for the end of 2025. That makes it the second-largest official gold holder in the world after the United States. The reserve is held by the Deutsche Bundesbank, which valued it at €395.2 billion at the end of 2025.

Where is Germany’s gold stored?

At the end of 2025, the Bundesbank held 1,710 tonnes (51%) of Germany’s gold in its own vaults in Frankfurt, 1,236 tonnes (37%) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and 404 tonnes (12%) at the Bank of England in London. Germany no longer holds any gold at the Banque de France in Paris.

How much German gold is stored in Frankfurt?

The Bundesbank stores 1,710 tonnes of gold in Frankfurt, about 51% of Germany’s total reserve. That figure has not changed since August 2017, when the Bundesbank completed its repatriation programme. It met its goal of storing half of Germany’s gold in Frankfurt three years ahead of its 2020 deadline.

Did Germany bring its gold back from New York?

Partly. Between 2013 and 2017, the Bundesbank moved 300 tonnes from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to Frankfurt, along with all 374 tonnes it held in Paris. Germany still keeps 1,236 tonnes in New York, and there have been renewed calls in 2025 and 2026 to bring more of it home. The Bundesbank says it has no concerns about the gold held there.

Why does Germany keep gold in New York and London?

Most of the gold held abroad was acquired in the 1950s and 1960s, when Germany received gold for its trade surpluses and left it where it was credited. The Bundesbank says it keeps gold in New York and London because they are major gold trading centres, where gold could be exchanged quickly for foreign currencies if needed.

Has Germany’s gold been audited?

The gold the Bundesbank moved to Frankfurt between 2013 and 2017 was checked bar by bar on arrival, with no irregularities found. The Bundesbank has also published a list of every bar in the reserve. For the gold still held in New York and London, it relies on confirmations from the central banks storing it, and no independent physical audit of that gold has been published.

From Frankfurt’s Vaults to Your Own

Germany’s gold story is about more than the size of its reserve. The Bundesbank has held on to its gold through the end of Bretton Woods, the launch of the euro and two decades of sales by other European central banks. Gold still makes up more than 80% of the country’s reserves. Yet it was public pressure from German voters, auditors and campaigners that pushed the Bundesbank to say where the gold was kept, publish a bar list, and bring half of it home. For many Germans, owning gold was not enough. They wanted to know where it was and that it was really there.

The same principle applies to private investors. Gold held through a fund, a certificate or an unallocated account is a claim on someone else’s promise. Physical gold, held in your own name and in a known location, is not.

BullionStar offers a wide range of gold bars and gold coins, available with secure, fully allocated vault storage at Le Freeport in Singapore. Unlike the gold Germany still keeps abroad, BullionStar customers do not have to rely on a written confirmation. They can see photos of their own bars, review independent audits of the vault’s holdings, and visit the vault in person to inspect their gold.