|Germany:||€ 1 (euro) = 1.95583 Deutsche Marks (DM)|
|Austria:||€ 1 (euro) = 13.7603 Austrian Schillings (ATS)|
|Luxembourg:||€ 1 (euro) = 40.3399 Luxembourgian francs (LUF)|
1 euro is 100 cents.
Switzerland, another European country with German as one of its official languages, is not a member of the European Union. Its currency is the Swiss franc (CHF). 1 Swiss franc is 100 centimes.
Currently, € 1 (euro) = around 1.5 CHF.
As German Translation Tips and Resources focuses on providing useful information for all aspects of German translation, here are a few pointers for translating German currency terms!
| € 1.000.000,00 or EUR 1,0 Mill|
(eine Million Euro)
| € 1,000,000.00 or EUR 1.0 million|
(one million euros)
| € 1.000,00 or TEUR 1,0|
(ein Tausend Euro)
| € 1,000.00 or € 1,000 |
(one thousand euros)
| € 100,00 or EUR 100|
(ein Hundert Euro)
|€ 100.00 (one hundred euros)|
| € 1,00 or € 1,-- |
| € 1.00 |
|German||UK English (traditional)||American English|
| Eine Million|
| One million|
| One million|
| Eine Milliarde|
(Md, Mrd, Mia)
| One thousand million|
| One billion|
| Eine Billion|
| One billion|
| One trillion|
During the last two centuries there was a difference between American and UK understanding of the term “billion”. In the UK the “long scale” numerical system defined one billion as 1,000,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000,000 (a million million - 12 zeros, or 10¹²).
In the US the “short scale” was used, with one billion representing 1,000 x 1,000,000 = 1,000,000,000 (a thousand million - 9 zeros, or 10⁹).
In 1974 the UK government officially adopted the “short scale” numerical system to avoid any misunderstandings with “one thousand million” becoming a “billion”. Adoption is almost complete although some residual uncertainty still remains in the UK (my Oxford Duden German dictionary still implies that the choice is optional).
|TIP! If there is any chance that your translation may be misunderstood then spell it out . For example, if your German translation includes an important, officially authorized figure, such as GDP, then you can happily say “35 thousand million euros” or “thirty-five thousand million euros” and avoid any potential confusion.|
PS. Just a note to all those Euro nay-sayers and doubters: I do get so sick of all the negative Euro-publicity I hear on English radio (the UK is particularly bad). I haven't met anyone over here who isn't happy with the Euro as our Austrian and German currency! Austria is landlocked and even though only 3 of our 8 neighbours are Eurozone countries - you have no idea how much easier life has become with a single currency!
Other articles in this German language series include:
Guide to pronouncing the German alphabet
The German umlaut – an explanation and keyboard commands
German holidays and customs
Common German abbreviations, their meanings and translations
The world of German SMS language – from A to L
The world of German SMS abbreviations – from M to Z
German loan words – so familiar we forget they’re German!