Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s parliament is set to debate on Wednesday whether to repatriate the country’s gold reserves held abroad, following a motion by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Citizens are entitled to have national assets kept entirely under German control and on German soil, the party said in its debate motion.
The issue has been brewing for some time, with the influential German Taxpayers Federation previously calling for the return of gold reserves from the United States, citing concerns over the unpredictability of President Donald Trump’s policies.
Politicians from the Green Party and the business-friendly Free Democrats have also raised similar concerns.
“We are living in times when property rights, and even international law, are no longer fully guaranteed,” AfD deputy leader Peter Boehringer said.
Germany’s gold reserves are the second largest in the world after those of the United States, totalling around 3,350 tons at the end of 2025.
More than half — about 1,710 tons — are stored in the German central bank’s vaults in Frankfurt. Around 1,236 tons, or nearly 37%, are held at the US Federal Reserve in New York, while the remaining 404 tons are stored at the Bank of England in London.
German central bank President Joachim Nagel has often said there is no reason to bring the reserves back from the United States.
“I have no doubt that our gold is safely stored at the Federal Reserve in New York,” Nagel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in January.
Source: dpa.com
