Erasmus+ project “Exploring Europe” – ECB
Our excursion to the money museum at the German Bundesbank and European Central Bank in Frankfurt on November 4th 2019
At 9 o’clock on November 4th, 2019 class 10e, four students from other 10th classes, Frau Küch and Herr Schäfer-Hartmann took the train to Frankfurt in order to visit the German Bundesbank and the European Central Bank. First we visited the money museum (“Geldmuseum”), which is part of the German “Bundesbank” and gives an insight into the world of money: How does money work? Where does it come from? Who controls the banks? How does monetary policy work and what roles do central banks play in its use?
An employee of the “Bundesbank” then gave an interesting presentation about monetary policy in Europe. We heard about everything from the first idea of the Euro to the current situation. The presentation lasted about 60 minutes.
After this we went to the ECB where we had to go through a security check and also got a guided tour/lecture which was in English, so it was harder for us to understand all the connections. However, the presentation at the Bundesbank had been a good preparation for this visit. There were also some models, statistics and graphs which helped us. We then had a little time to explore the interactive displays with the help of tablet computers to learn more about stable prices, purchasing power, safe savings in the bank and Europe’s main achievements. To test our knowledge we had a quiz afterwards. It became clear that we had learned a lot about money matters in Europe and the Euro. The winners got a little prize.
Finally we had to go back to Kassel where we arrived at about nine o’clock in the evening.
All in all we can say that it was a long but successful and interesting day and especially the group that is going to Ireland on our first Erasmus meeting in December got some valuable information on financial and economic matters in Europe.
Naja Kerner and Julia Staib, class 10e
