Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 2 Euro 2019, KM# 377, Germany, Federal Republic, German Federal States, 70th Anniversary of the Bundesrat
  • 2 Euro 2019, KM# 377, Germany, Federal Republic, German Federal States, 70th Anniversary of the Bundesrat
Description

The Federal Republic of Germany has 16 states (German: Bundesländer). Since 2006, Germany issues every year a Bundesländer coin for a specific state that has that’s year’s presidency of the Bundesrat.

The series has started in 2006 with the presidency of Schleswig-Holstein. But, due to changes in the population quantity in some states, the sequence of the presidency was changed. In 2019, Schleswig-Holstein again had the presidency of the Bundesrat. To avoid a second issue that would be dedicated to the presidency of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany has decided to delete the Bundesländer issue of 2019 and replace it by a coin that will be dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Bundesrat.

Obverse

Depicts the House of Lords of Prussia, seat of the Bundesrat. Date above and inscription below the building. National identifying mark (D for Deutschland / Germany) is below the inscription. Mintmark (A for Berlin, D for Munich, F for Stuttgart, G for Karlsruhe, J for Hamburg) on the upper left and engraver's privy mark on the upper right.

The Prussian House of Lords in Berlin was the upper house of the Preußischer Landtag, the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Since 1856 the House of Lords met at a Baroque city palace on Leipziger Straße No. 3, near Leipziger Platz. Upon German unification in 1871, the neighbouring building on Leipziger Straße No. 4 was rebuilt as the seat of the Reichstag of the German Empire, before it moved into the new Reichstag building in 1894. Both the Leipziger Str. No. 3 and 4 buildings were demolished in 1898 to make space for a new building for the House of Lords.

The Neo-Renaissance Herrenhaus building, designed by the architect Friedrich Schulze, was completed in 1904. Heavily damaged by Allied bombing and the Battle of Berlin, the building was restored after the war and from 1946 served for the East German Academy of Sciences. Since 2000, it is again the site of the parliamentary sessions of the Federal Council (Bundesrat) of Germany.

The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder (federated states) of Germany at the national level. The Bundesrat participates in legislation, alongside the Bundestag, the directly elected representation of the people of Germany, with laws affecting state competences and all constitutional changes requiring the consent of the body. For its similar function, it is sometimes described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the US Senate, the Canadian Senate or the British House of Lords.

Engraver: Michael Otto

2019
A mo
BUNDESRAT
D

Reverse

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

2 EURO
LL

Edge

UNITY AND JUSTICE AND FREEDOM in German, Germany's national motto and the beginning of Germany's national anthem, followed by the Federal Eagle.

EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT

2 Euro

German Federal States
70th Anniversary of the Bundesrat

Subscribe series
KM# 377
Swap now (1 offer)
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Cupronickel
Center Nickel Brass
Weight 8.5 g
Diameter 25.75 mm
Thickness 2.2 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mints
Bavarian Central Mint (D)
Berlin State Mint (A)
Hamburg Mint (J)
Karlsruhe State Mint (G)
Stuttgart State Mint (F)

Related coins

Schleswig-Holstein

German Federal States

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

German Federal States

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm
Hamburg

German Federal States

Bi-Metallic, 8.5 g, ⌀ 25.75 mm