Why are Germans still using the deutsche mark?

Officially, Europe's economic powerhouse uses the euro. But there are still billions upon billions of deutsche marks being traded all around Germany

Deutsche mark
(Image credit: CC BY: Gaspa)

With the eurozone debt crisis still raging, Europeans could be forgiven for pining for the days when nations had their own currencies. But many Germans are taking their love of the deutsche mark to a whole new level, says Vanessa Fuhrmans at The Wall Street Journal, "indulging their nostalgia for the abandoned mark by shopping with it again — and retailers are happily going along." Indeed, "the 'die gute alte D-mark,' or 'the good old D-mark,' as it is still affectionately called, is far from dead." Here, a guide to the currency's renewed popularity:

Wait. Isn't the deutsche mark defunct?

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