How did the German gold reserves come about, and what role did gold play as a means of payment throughout the ages? What significance did gold reserves have then and now? This book presents the gold holdings of the Bundesbank to readers in an informative and illustrative manner, as if they were holding them in their own hands. The relocation of significant gold reserves from storage sites in New York and Paris to Frankfurt has garnered considerable public attention in recent years. The custodian of the German gold reserves, the Deutsche Bundesbank, provides detailed information for the first time in this book about the origin, use, and storage of gold in its own vaults. Interesting insights into the extraction and processing of the raw material gold, as well as well-founded knowledge about its properties, are complemented by lavish illustrations of selected gold bars.