Jürgen Stark: Short address at the opening ceremony for the "Language
of Money" exhibition
Speech by Mr Jürgen Stark, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank,
at the Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin, 24 September 2009.
* * *
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished ambassadors and members of parliament, I am
delighted to be here with you in these wonderful premises of the Museum für Kommunikation
in Berlin, the oldest former postal museum in the world, and to be able to open the
"Language of Money" exhibition.
It is with great pleasure that President Trichet acts on behalf of the European Central Bank
as a patron of the "Language of Money" exhibition and he deeply regrets not being able to
attend today's opening ceremony in person.
The European Central Bank appreciates and supports activities aimed at educating the
public in financial and economic matters and the exhibition which we will see tonight
contributes to this goal. It explains the different forms that money took in past societies and
the role of money nowadays.
The language of money added a new word to its vocabulary in December 1995 and this new
word was the euro. You might recall the debate that was had at the time - the name "ECU"
did not sound particularly good in German while, for the French, it was the name of an
ancient coin. It was decided that choosing the word euro ought to favour no language in
particular. This created a solid foundation for the new currency. However, not only the
"professional euro-sceptics", but many others too would not have predicted that the euro
would be such a success.
The euro came into being on 1 January 1999 and it is now the currency in 16 Member States
of the European Union. With the creation of the euro, it became clear that a currency could
represent a decisive step on the long path towards an ever closer union among the peoples
of Europe.
Since the euro's introduction, Europeans have benefited from price stability. This is a great
success story. The maintenance of price stability, which constitutes the primary goal of the
ECB, benefits all citizens of the euro area directly. It protects income and savings, and helps
reduce borrowing costs, thus promoting investment and economic growth, which are
prerequisites for job creation and prosperity. In recent months, we have seen another of the
euro's benefits during the financial crisis. The euro protected the euro area from internal
exchange rate tensions as well as from political ones, as it had done on previous occasions.
As the euro banknotes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002, they became one of
the most tangible symbols of Europe. The euro has quickly become an integral part of the
everyday lives of citizens within the euro area and it is now used by almost 330 million
Europeans on a daily basis. Some 12.5 billion euro banknotes are currently in circulation in
Europe and beyond, with a total face value of more than €750 billion. Today, the euro is an
internationally accepted currency. People have confidence in the euro - confidence that
others accept the currency, that this money is "valid" and that its stability will be sustained
over the long term. This confidence is crucial for a currency to thrive.
These days, with the euro as our currency, we hardly give a thought to how much it has
changed our everyday lives; we can travel without paying a commission to exchange money
within the euro area or transfer money within this area and pay the same fee as for a national
transfer. In all euro area countries, we can simply hand over some cash or give the cashier a
payment card or have the amount due transferred from our bank account to another account
with one click of a mouse. However, we should not forget that it has not always been this
easy. In this respect, the exhibition is a worthwhile attempt to make people more familiar with
the language of money, as money is an integral part of our society.
The importance of money in the modern economy is such that it is crucial to be proactive in
educating all citizens about how to deal with their own financial affairs in a responsible and
cautious manner. This exhibition explains the various forms that money can take.
I should also like to take this opportunity to highlight the fruitful cooperation between the
European Central Bank and the Museum für Kommunikation which has given the ECB the
opportunity to display its "Euro Exhibition" in the museum's premises from 20 November
2009 until 17 January 2010. I do not want to reveal too many details at this stage, but, as you
may have a chance to discover for yourselves later this year, the "Euro Exhibition" features a
common theme that will naturally complement the exhibition on the "Language of Money". It
will tell you all about the euro banknotes and how to detect counterfeits in an interactive and
entertaining manner. You will be able to learn how the euro aids communication and
connection between the people in Europe and the rest of the world. I should therefore like to
warmly invite you to this exhibition, which opens on 20 November here at the Museum für
Kommunikation in Berlin, before it continues its journey around Europe, having already been
shown in Italy, Slovakia and Spain.
I should like to take this opportunity to wish you a very enjoyable and informative experience
during your visit to the "Language of Money" exhibition and to once again congratulate the
Museum für Kommunikation in Berlin on this valuable initiative.