The Germans are in a gold rush.
Consumers and small investors bought around 125 tons in the first nine months of this year alone.
That is more than half of what was demanded across Europe.
The fact that Germans have a particular preference for the precious metal is nothing new.
However, this was rarely as extreme as this year - normally "only" 30 to 40 percent of European demand comes from here. So what drives the Germans? Why do they rush for gold? What are they doing with it? The World Gold Council (WGC), the lobby association of mine operators, wanted to know more about this and carried out a detailed survey, the results of which are available exclusively to WELT.