There is no exact answer to this question. There are several versions why Germany keeps most of its gold reserves outside the state. Germany ranks second in the world (after the USA) in terms of the amount of gold: 3396 tons, but only a little more than 31% of all this wealth is kept in the German Federal Bank. The US vaults contain 45% of Germany's gold reserves, Britain - 13 and 11% in France.
The first version is political
It is believed that Germany was afraid of an attack by 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 Great Britain, which are also located near the Federal Republic of Germany. It turns out that in the event of a possible offensive by the troops of the Soviet Union, these countries were also under threat.
There is a version that Germany began to store gold overseas in order to financially support its American allies. Starting from the 50s of the last century, the USA, France and Great Britain from time to time experienced financial difficulties, and the young state of the FRG needed their military protection. So we got such a mutually beneficial cooperation. Germany paid for the guarantees of its security in gold stored in foreign vaults.
Second version - economic
The first batch of gold was purchased by Germany in 1951 (529 kg). In those years, most of the state was still destroyed after World War II, so Germany was then unable to ensure reliable storage and transportation of the country's gold reserves. This is how the tradition was established, to store Germany's gold reserves abroad.
The Bundesbank can always take the required amount of dollars from the US Federal Reserve against the security of its gold reserves, and the American currency remains the main reserve currency in the world.
By holding gold on international trading floors, Germany has constant access to foreign currencies.
Why the US is not giving gold to Germany
Recently, however, dissatisfaction with the fact that the bulk of the country's gold reserves is stored in the United States is beginning to ripen in Germany.
The reason was that Berlin recently demanded that the United States return 674 tons of gold, and received back only 5 tons, and then suddenly German officials, for some reason, completely changed their minds about returning it from the US vaults.
The experts sounded the alarm. There is an opinion that there is simply no German gold in the USA anymore. German journalist Jonas Felling comes to a disappointing conclusion: The United States has been quietly using German gold to contain world prices for the 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: Germany's gold was not returned, but oh well. It is clear that Germany was simply forced at the highest level to abandon its demands.
Where is Russian gold stored
Russia did not take its gold to the USA. Russia's gold reserves are stored in Moscow and Kazan. Now, if the Germans kept their gold in Moscow, they would have probably immediately given it to them, on demand. Conclusion: you need to know who to trust.
