Complementary Currencies in Germany:

The Regiogeld System

Christian Thiel

IJCCR
University of Augsberg, Germany
christian.thiel@phil.uni-augsburg.de

Abstract
In several places in Germany colourful slips of paper replace the Euro as a medium of exchange.
These unof;icial tenders German Regiogeld, a phenomenon which occurred around 2001 and
spread rapidly all over Germany. It appears not only with different names but also in various
forms. The article introduces this special complementary currency. It describes brie;ly and
from a sociological point of view what it is, how it has originated, the actual status quo and
possible future developments. It is based on my 4 year ethnographic research which was done in
the context of a sociological dissertation. For this article one of my results is particular
important: Regiogeld is a phenomenon which originated in the fusing of different movements, a
money-reform-oriented, an esoteric and several regionalization-oriented.

Introduction its objectives, its organizational, ;inancial and

personnel resources.
In several places in Germany colourful slips of
paper replace the Euro as a medium of
exchange. These unof;icial tenders are called What is Regiogeld?
Ammerlechtaler, Brgerblte, Dreyecker,
Elbtaler, Gwinner, Havelblte, KannWas, Regiogeld (the German short form for regional
Landmark, Nahgold, Plzer, Roland, Sterntaler, money) is a special form of a community
TauberFranken or Zschopautaler. We are currency. It can be de;ined as a private
talking about German Regiogeld, a monetary system with a regional validity and a
phenomenon which occurred around 2001 and non-pro;it-agenda which is accepted by
spread rapidly all over Germany. It appears not multiple participants. It usually occurs as
only with different names but also in various voucher and is provided with a demurrage
forms. (negative interest). This constant loss in value
(5-12 % per year) is either realized via certain
The article introduces this special
tokens which have to be purchased and glued
complementary currency. It describes brie;ly
on the vouchers every 3 months or via the
and from a sociological point of view what it
chargeable replacement of the vouchers every
International is, how it has originated, the actual status quo
(3 up to 12) months. The regional currencies
and possible future developments. It is based
Journal of on my 4 year ethnographic research which was
have multiple purposes: they want to bind the
regional purchasing power, strengthen the local
Community done in the context of a sociological
economy, create more cooperation, increase
dissertation. For this article one of my results is
sponsorship for non-pro;it-organizations,
Currency particular important: Regiogeld is a
encourage the regional identity, help solidify
phenomenon which originated in the fusing of
Research different movements, a money-reform-
social ties, reduce transport, enforce a
sustainable and responsible consumers
oriented, an esoteric and several
behaviour and so on.
regionalization-oriented. These movements
www.ijccr.net form Regiogeld regarding its constructions and

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IJCCR The Regiogeld System
There are big differences in the Beside these fundamental elements of
construction, there are several more
construction of the almost 30
differences concerning e.g. the rate of exchange,
active regional currencies in the scope of circulation, the design and
Germany. One of the most denomination of the vouchers or the duration
important (and among the of validity. Many Regiogeld systems try to make
something new and special like coins for
makers most controversial) collectors, inclusion of LET-systems,
concerns the question of value: combination of Euro- and performance based
some Regiogelder are backed by systems, cashless payment procedures,
electronic money, cooperatives, own shops et
Euros, other are backed by
cetera. This great variety regarding the
goods and services. schemes construction, its organizational
design, institutional embedding and ideological
Apart from these fundamental similarities, objectives leads to the question:
there are big differences in the construction of
the almost 30 active regional currencies in
Germany. One of the most important (and
among the makers most controversial) How did Regiogeld originate?
concerns the question of value: some
Regiogeld is based on the ideas of the German-
Regiogelder are backed by Euros, other are
Argentine economist Silvio Gesell (1862-1930).
backed by goods and services.
He proposed demurrage as a method of
In the Euro-based system a consumer buys increasing both the velocity of money and
the regional money with his Euros. Then he can overall economic activity. His Freigeld (free
purchase goods in one of the businesses money) should rust and rot like all the goods
associated with the system. The payee can and thereby be better and more ef;icient
either use it for his/her shopping or give it to money (Gesell 1949: 13). Gesell and his
the Regiogeld organization and receive the followers pursued (without success) a political
value in Euro currency in return. For this re- money reform and also implemented small
exchange most Regiogeld organizations scale local money experiments
demand a fee of 5 to 10 %. Part of this covers (Niederegger 1997).
their expenses and the rest is donated to
The most famous took place in the Austrian
community charities. The advantages of this
town of Wrgl between 1932 and 1934. In the
system are: it is easy to understand, with low-
middle of the world economic crisis the mayor
risk for the businesses (they can re-exchange
paid the salaries and wages of the public
the earned regional money to Euros) and
employees with local money. Due to the
above all it is charitable.
negative interest on it, it was immediately used
In the goods-and-services-based system the to pay local taxes and fees. Shortly after, it was
participating businesses assure by contract to also accepted in local shops. Soon a circulation
accept the regional money at the same parity as with a high velocity came into being. This
Euros (or at least for a certain part of the allowed the municipality to ;inance several job-
purchase price). In this case the businesses give creating measures. The unemployment rate
out the regional currency; the Regiogeld diminished drastically and Wrgl started to be
organization only provides the administration a model for other crisis-ridden towns. But then
(implementation, controlling et cetera) and the Austrian central bank, fearing for its
charges some fees for this service. Accordingly, monopoly for money creation, stopped the
the businesses can increase their ;inancial experiment (Fisher 1933; Onken 1997;
solvency, because they more or less get the Werner 1989: 88).
vouchers for free. However, this is dif;icult to
The Freigeld Movement was then prohibited
convey. The businesses fear not to get rid of
during Third Reich and formed up again 1950
their Regiogeld revenues as there is no re-
as a (marginal) political party. With their
exchange in Euro. The consumers dont really
dogmatic and partly nationalistic
have a profound reason to make an effort for
argumentation they scared away the populace.
Regiogeld as there are no charitable aspects
This changed in the 1960s when the Freigeld
connected with it.
movement mixed with anthroposophy and the

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IJCCR The Regiogeld System
emerging new social movements were enthused and wanted to create their own
(Bartsch 1994: 33). local money. Hence a congress was held and
attended by 150 people. Due to the great
Especially Anthroposophy as one of the most
interest accompanying the foundation of
important and socially ;irmly rooted esoteric
dozens of Regiogeld initiatives in Germany the
organizations in Germany had a deep impact.
Regiogeld-Netzwerk was established in 2003
This resulted from the fact that anthroposophy
to organize and initiate the exchange of
has a similar concept for a money reform. The
knowledge. This network, 2006
founder of anthroposophy, the Austrian Rudolf
institutionalized as registered umbrella
Steiner, called for aging
association (Regiogeld e.V.), organizes
money (Steiner 1919; 1922). Issued within an
meetings twice a year, provides manuals for
economic cooperation it should gain certain
beginners, cares for public relation et cetera
qualities (depending on its age) like buying
altogether it de;ines, devises and disseminates
money, lending money and in the end
the idea of Regiogeld.
donating money (Steiner 1922: 137). The
conjoint thought of decaying money helped
combining both concepts in the idea of
What is the status quo? 1
Regiogeld in which we e.g. ;ind the Freigeld
way of demurrage together with the According to the authors research there are at
anthroposophical assumption of democratic the moment about 73 Regiogeld projects in
and charitable money. Germany. Only 15 of them are not in the
More over the New Social Movements since umbrella association and most of these are
the 1960s had profound effects on Freigeld. As heavily marketing-oriented projects. 32 are in
the idea of rusting money diffused in ecology, preparation, while 26 are active. Among these
peace, feminist, anti-capitalism and as a part of active projects 20 use the Euro-based-system,
this regionalization movements, it absorbed 4 use the goods-and-service-based system and
their objectives. From now on Freigeld should the remaining 2 are hybrid systems. Altogether
be a medium for a self-determined, egalitarian, they emit an estimated amount of 700,000 to
collaborative and sustainable life 800,000 Euros. However, 64 % of this belongs
(Bartsch 1994: 278; Brand 1998: 34). to the Chiemgauer whereas the average
Regiogeld project has only around 10,000
In the 1990s this new Freigeld was Euros in circulation. 2
popularized mainly by the books of Helmut
Creutz (1993) and Margrit Kennedy (1991). In Also the number of participating businesses is
these days the reports about different strongly varying. Some projects have only a
complementary currencies from all over the handful, others have hundreds. However,
world (Lietaer 2002) enthused the Freigeld mostly fewer than 100 businesses participate
movement. The focus of many supporters in the average Regiogeld project. 3 This is in
turned away from a national money reform to fact a problem, because as a research project
small scale money experiments, especially has found out a Regiogeld project needs at
LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems). least 200 vendors to provide a suf;icient range
of goods and services (Volkmann 2008: 82).
Around the turn of the millennium after the And not only the quantity, but also the quality
emergence of a strong globalization critique of the businesses is important. In the goods-
(and interestingly together with the and-services-based systems mainly semi-
implementation of the European currency) the professional businesses like alternative,
;irst Regiogeld schemes appeared 1998 the esoteric and artistic services or quite
Ph in Arnstadt (near Erfurt) and 2001 the specialised shops are found. So far only the
Roland in Bremen. The real breakthrough Chiemgauer provides a suf;icient range of
however was in the year 2003 when Waldorf products and at the same time an adequate
school teacher Christian Gelleri together with spatial density of shops to really work out in
6 schoolgirls started the Chiemgauer in the daily life (Bickelmann 2009: 69).
small Bavarian village Prien (Gelleri 2009: 65).
Strongly supported by the parents the But why is the Chiemgauer so successful? This
Chiemgauer was very successful. In question needs empirical investigation. So far
consequence of the huge attention by the mass only assumptions can be made. Firstly, the
media many people from all over Germany initiator is a man with entrepreneurial skills
and a high commitment for several years

International Journal of Community Currency Research 15 (2011) D 17-21 19

IJCCR The Regiogeld System
now he works full-time for his project. organization structure (mostly a registered
Secondly, there is an ef;icient and manifold association) and the vouchers (which has to be
network of supporters in the region: the unforgeable). Then the Regiogeld has to be
parents from the (anthroposophic) school introduced to businessmen and consumers. For
where the Chiemgauer started, several local all this, a lot of time and money are required.
politicians, a bunch of social and cultural But the number of institutional supporters is
projects or clubs. Thirdly, the cooperation of small: for political and ;inancial actors
the local bank gives the Chiemgauer money Regiogeld is too alternative, for many social
symbolic credibility and even more important volunteers its too economical. Sometimes
offers structures (accounts, electronic some support (also ;inancial) comes from Local
payment) for the electronic Chiemgauer. The Agenda 21 programs. As a consequence the
importance of this is illustrated by the fact, that regional money systems remain on a rather
already 70 % of the circulating Chiemgauer small level. So far they attract mainly idealistic
money is electronic. Fourthly, maybe the consumers and businessmen but dont reach
characteristics of the Chiemgauer region like the populace.
the good economy, plenty of touristic

attractions, the prevalent traditional social
networks and the strong regional identity have What does the future bring?
their effect on the success of the Chiemgauer
From 2003 to 2008, there was a kind of
Regiogeld. But even despite its certain level of
economic signi;icance, the Chiemgauer still formation boom. Everywhere in Germany
attracts more interest globally then regionally Regiogeld projects appeared. Since 2008 we
(Schroeder 2009). have observed a certain slowdown and even
the collapse of several initiatives. It seems that
Lets now take a despite extensive marketing, it is very hard for
It seems that despite extensive short look on the Regiogeld to achieve acceptance and therefore
overall s tructures o f
marketing, it is very hard for a signi;icant penetration of the regional
the average
Regiogeld to achieve acceptance Regiogeld. The core markets. Especially in bigger cities and
economically underdeveloped regions theres
and therefore a significant of each system is only little business volume with Regiogeld.
penetration of the regional mostly a small group Maybe Regiogeld needs existing (economic and
of volunteers mostly social) networks while it hardly creates them.
markets from the educated Hence, and also because it is very labour and
middle class. They money intensive, a sole Regiogeld will probably
often meet at events remain on a rather small scale level. But, some
in the context of Freigeld, anthroposophy or initiatives start developing structures in which
regionalization movements. After gathering Regiogeld is one of several instruments within
together they start working on their regional an alternative and self producing regional
money system. Due to the complexity of this cooperative. The Bavarian Sterntaler for
task the process from the ;irst ideas to the example is (since 2009) organized as a
actual money takes a long time, often one or cooperative which includes a small shop, a food
two years. Because there is no ready-made producing permaculture garden, a private
system the makers have to create their own LETS, a commercial barter system and as the
conclusive and also judicial elaborated concept. overall medium of exchange, a Regiogeld. The
In this process of de;ining the currencys Chiemgauer has started in 2010 with a
details a lot of con;licts can appear: Are bad microcredit-approval-process. These
businesses, like discount shops, allowed to join approaches seem to have potential. And, even if
the Regiogeld or should it be restricted to local the economic signi;icance of Regiogeld remains
producers? Should Regiogeld be a rather small, one thing should not be forgotten:
demonstration of a better monetary system or its existence makes alternative money
rather a medium to seal off and strengthen the thinkable and graspable.
own regional economy? Should it focus on
increasing the businesses economic options or
rather be a fundraising for charitable projects?
The next steps are the creation of the

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IJCCR The Regiogeld System
Endnotes References
1 Due to low professional and organizational level it is dif;icult to
Bartsch, Gnter (1994) Die NWO-Bewegung Silvio Gesells.
get actual and reliable data. The numbers presented here come Geschichtlicher Grundri 1891 - 1992/93, (Gauke, Ltjenburg)
from the Regiogeld umbrella association (Regiogeld e.V. 2010)
Bickelmann, Annette (2009) Kleingeld. Monetre
and were updated with the latest available information from the
Regionalisierung durch Regiogeld als Werkzeug im
various projects homepages.
Regionalmanagement. Unpublished diploma thesis, University
2 The following exact numbers are based on the ascertainable of Trier, Department of geography
projects (N = 18): total amount of Regiogeld in circulation from
Brand, Karl-Werner (1998) Humanistischer Mittelklasse-
all projects equates 788,506 Euros; arithmetic mean is
Radikalismus. In Hellmann, Kai-Uwe and Ruud Koopmans (Ed.)
43,806 Euros and median is between 11,000 and 12,000 Euros.
Paradigmen der Bewegungsforschung. Westdeutscher Verlag:
Its not easy to estimate how much turnover is created because
Opladen; pp. 33-50
it is supposed that Regiogeld circulates with a higher velocity
than the Euro (Gelleri 2009: 64). The Chiemgauer reports to Chiemgauer (2010), viewed August 17 2010,
create a yearly turnover of 4 Million Euros with its 500,000
http://www.chiemgauer.info/uploads/media/Chiemgauer-
Euros in circulation (Chiemgauer 2010).
Statistik_01.pdf
3 Exact numbers (N = 26) are: participating businesses range
Creutz, Helmut (1993) Das Geld-Syndrom. Wege zu einer
from 16 to 584; arithmetic mean is 100 and median is 62. 20
krisenfreien Marktwirtschaft, (Verlag Mainz, Aachen)
projects have less then 100 participating businesses, only 4 have
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Gelleri, Christian (2009) Chiemgauer Regiomoney: Theory and

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