Exactly 70 years ago, the Deutsche Mark was introduced in what was known as the Trizone – the three zones that were occupied after World War II by France, the United Kingdom and the US, and that were to become West Germany one year later. We have indeed come a long way since those days, when much of Europe was still ravaged by war.
The Franco-German reconciliation that developed in the following decades and eventually grew into a deep friendship is rightly considered one of the great achievements in European history, and it has been a catalyst for European integration.