Nervous Germans 'rushing to buy gold'

A report in the International Herald Tribune yesterday (October 26th) claimed that panic-stricken Germans are moving to buy gold as their fears over inflation rise.

Chancellor Angela Merkel recently gave her assurances that savings would be protected as people became increasingly nervous about the ongoing global financial crisis.

However, the report claims that a country which has been scarred by hyperinflation and losing savings during two world wars is taking a proactive response to the situation by investing in gold.

Robert Hartmann, the co-founder of Munich-based gold dealer ProAurum, told the newspaper: "I've never seen anything like this. We're basically sold out until the end of the year."

One such German is Gert Heinz, a tax adviser in Munich who claims that he "hasn't forgotten history" and the possibility of being left with nothing through relying on paper money.

While he is an extreme case in that he is preparing for the very worst outcome, his attitude appears to suggest that the weight of history could lead people to invest in gold for its safe-haven qualities.

"History matters. In times of crisis you really get to know a country and its people," Toni Pierenkemper, a professor of economic history at Cologne University, also divulged in the report.

"Traumatic events are seared into the collective consciousness and often survive into the next generations."

Only around 13 per cent of German households have money in shares, according to figures released by the European Savings Institute in 2006.

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