Germany gets Gold back after Cold War

Germany completed the transfer of $13 billion in gold reserves from New York to Frankfurt, the Bundesbank announced on Thursday. The transfer is one step in a plan developed by Germany’s central bank in 2013 that aims to repatriate half the gold reserves it keeps abroad during the Cold War. The final transfer is expected from Paris later this year, completing the project three years ahead of schedule.

Stashed away at the height of the Cold War in safe havens well out of Moscow's reach, the 3,378-tonne, 120 billion-euro gold stockpile has become a symbol of Germany's economic ascent and a guardian of its stability. Germany is not bringing home its gold bullion in response to concerns about President Trump’s monetary policy, officials said. 

The gold was earned by West Germany from trade surpluses in the 1950s and 1960s, but was never moved out of the United States due to fear of invasion by the Soviet Union. Germany’s gold reserves – valued at 120 billion euro ($127 billion) – are the second-largest stockpile of precious metal in the world.  

"The transfers were carried out without any disruptions or irregularities," said Carl-Ludwig Thiele, board member of the central bank, called Bundesbank. 

The Bundesbank already brought about 850 tons of gold home from London between 1998 and 2001. It has said that, since France – like Germany – long since switched to using the euro, storing gold for foreign currency swaps in Paris is no longer necessary. 
The bank has not released any details as to how it transported the gold home. The original plan was for the transfers to be completed by 2020, but the bank brought forward the transfers.
Nevertheless, New York banks still hold 1,236 tons of German cold compared with 432 tons in London and 91 tons in Paris. Thiele said that the Bundesbank didn't plan any further relocation beyond what had been planned.