1690 silver Kreuzer from pre-unified German state of Wurttemberg

The Kreuzer (), in English also spelled kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the

German gold mark The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the g ...

in 1871–1873, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In south Germany the kreuzer was typically worth 4

pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, i ...

s and there were 60 kreuzers to a

gulden ''Gulden'' is the historical German and Dutch term for gold coin (from Middle High German "golden penny" and Middle Dutch " golden florin"), equivalent to the English term guilder. Gulden, Gülden, Guldens or Gulden's may also refer to: Coins o ...

. ''Kreuzer'' was abbreviated as ''Kr'', ''kr'', ''K'' or ''Xr''.

Early history

The kreuzer goes back to a '' groschen'' coin minted in

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier V ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

in 1271 (the so-called ''etscher Kreuzer''). Because of the double cross (German: ''Kreuz'') on the face of the coin, it was soon given the name ''Kreuzer''. It spread in the 15th and 16th centuries throughout the south of the German-speaking area. The Imperial Coinage Act of 1551 made them the unit for small silver coins. In 1559 a value of 60 kreuzers to 1

had been adopted throughout the southern states of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, but the northern German states declined to join, and used the groschen instead of the kreuzer. The kreuzer in turn was worth about 4.2

s (pennies). Thus one (golden) gulden was worth 60 kreuzers or 252 pfennigs. Later currencies adopted a standard relationship of 240 pfennigs = 60 kreuzers = 1 gulden.

Following the adoption of the in 1754, two distinct kreuzers came into being. The first, sometimes referred to as the , was worth of a , valuing the gulden at half a . This was used in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. However, the states of southern Germany adopted a smaller kreuzer worth of a , thus valuing the gulden at of a . In fact, the southern German states issued coins denominated in kreuzer up to 6 kreuzer (equal to 5 ), but in for higher denominations.

South Germany 1837–1873

The South German Currency Union of 1837 used a system of 60 kreuzers = 1

and gulden = 1 thaler, with the kreuzer equal to the old ''Kreuzer Landmünze''. These kreuzers continued in circulation until decimalization following the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with ad ...

in 1871.

Austria-Hungary 1857–1892

Austria-Hungary decimalized in 1857, adopting a system of 100 kreuzers = 1

Austro-Hungarian florin The florin (german: Gulden, hu, forint, hr, forinta/florin, cs, zlatý) was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892 (known as the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867 and the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy after 1867), ...

. florins = 1 Vereinsthaler. The kreuzer was known as ''krajczár'' in Hungarian (''krajcár'' in modern orthography), ''krejcar'' in Czech, ''grajciar'' in Slovak, ''krajcar'' in Slovene and Serbocroatian, ''creițar'' or ''crăițar'' in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, ''grajcar'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

References

External links

* {{Pfennig Silver coins Currencies of Austria Currencies of Germany Currencies of Austria-Hungary

Early history

South Germany 1837–1873

Austria-Hungary 1857–1892

See also

References

External links