Germany document photos online

In November 1923 a single US dollar bought roughly 4.2 trillion German marks, the climax of a hyperinflation so wild that workers were paid daily and hauled their wages home in suitcases, rushing to spend them before prices doubled again by evening. Germany killed the spiral by launching the Rentenmark, then the Reichsmark, and in 1948 the Deutsche Mark, which became a symbol of postwar stability. That trauma still shapes German monetary caution today, and remarkably, decades after the euro arrived, old Deutsche Mark notes and coins remain exchangeable at the Bundesbank with no deadline at all.

• Passport power In Henley's July 2025 index the German passport ranked third in the world, granting visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 189 destinations, tied with six other EU nations.
• Currency Even though the euro replaced cash in 2002, the Bundesbank still redeems old Deutsche Mark notes and coins in unlimited amounts indefinitely and free of charge, with billions of marks never converted.
• Hyperinflation By November 1923 one US dollar was worth about 4.2 trillion German marks, and people were paid wages daily and spent them within hours before prices climbed again.
• Citizenship On 27 June 2024 Germany made dual citizenship the norm for the first time in modern history, so descent applicants no longer have to renounce their existing nationality to become German.
• Right of blood German nationality runs chiefly by ius sanguinis, meaning a child born anywhere in the world acquires citizenship automatically if at least one parent is German at the time of birth.
• eID pioneer Since 1 November 2010 the German ID card has carried a chip with an online eID function, letting holders prove their identity on the internet and even at vending machines via NFC.
• Chip security The German passport has embedded a contactless chip since 2007 storing the holder's photo and, since 2009, fingerprints, guarded by more than 50 security mechanisms against unauthorized read-out.
• Founding member Germany was a founding member of the European Economic Community under the 1957 Treaty of Rome and among the first states to adopt the euro when it launched in 1999.
• Migrant group Turkish nationals are Germany's largest foreign group, with about 1.5 million Turkish passport holders, while some 2.9 million residents are of Turkish origin.