German MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), told Der Spiegel on January 23 that Berlin should repatriate the gold reserves held in the US.
She said that returning gold will help Germany minimize strategic risks in the context of increasing instability.
World gold prices have skyrocketed in the past 4 years, increasing by nearly 70% in 2025 alone. Gold prices rose due to demand from central banks, concerns about inflation and geopolitical tensions.
Gold futures reached a record high this week, exceeding 4,860 USD/ounce amid President Donald Trump's reaffirmation of his intention to impose tariffs on European countries opposing the US plan to acquire Greenland.
At a time when global instability is increasing and with President Trump's unpredictable policies, it is unacceptable for about 37% of Germany's gold reserves, more than 1,230 tons, to be stored in New York," Ms. Strack-Zimmermann said.
The German Federal Reserve (Bundesbank) has 1,236 tons of gold worth 178 billion USD at the US Federal Reserve in New York. For decades, a significant part of Germany's reserves has been held abroad due to historical and market factors.
Ms. Strack-Zimmermann believes that this arrangement is meaningful during the Cold War but is no longer suitable for the current geopolitical context.
The female MP argued that pure trust in transatlantic partners cannot replace sovereignty in economic and security policy.
Germany has kept a part of its reserves abroad since the post-war economic boom and has also repatriated a part of gold from New York and Paris from 2013 to 2017. Currently, about half of Germany's reserves are in the country, the rest in New York and London.
Demand from global central banks is one of the factors pushing up gold prices. Bloomberg recently reported that increased gold reserves have helped Russia offset much of the asset value frozen by Western countries, an increase of about $216 billion since February 2022.
The increase in gold prices has pushed the proportion of gold in Russia's reserves to 43%. Before the conflict in Ukraine, the proportion of gold in Russia's reserves was 21%. With this development, Russia became the 5th largest gold holder in the world.
