Complementary Currencies in Germany: The Regiogeld System

Abstract

In several places in Germany colourful slips of paper replace the Euro as a medium of exchange. These unofficial 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 briefly – 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.