Currency of Austria: history, features, course and interesting facts

Austria is an active member of the European Union, therefore it became one of the first countries to switch from the national currency to the euro.

Short story

The currency of Austria was put into circulation on March 1, 1925 and was the official monetary unit of the country until the beginning of 2002. During the Second World War, the Austrian schilling temporarily stopped its circulation due to the fact that Austria was under the yoke of Nazi Germany.

Since January 1, 2002, the euro, as in most EU countries, began to be used on the territory of the country, which remains the state currency.

National currency of Austria

The Austrian schilling was the currency of the state since 1925, before that the Austrian krona was used in the country. It greatly depreciated after the First World War, and the government decided to change the state currency to another.

The currency of Austria had both paper banknotes and metal coins. The Austrian schilling was divided into 100 pennies. In the country there were coins worth from one to fifty pennies and paper notes worth twenty, fifty, one hundred, five hundred, thousand and five thousand shillings.

In 1938, the shilling was replaced by the Reichsmark, as the country became a protectorate of Germany. In 1945, the currency of Austria was returned, but the design was changed. The new currency was quite stable and did not practically depreciate. Its approximate rate throughout the second half of the twentieth century was 0.04 US dollars.

Currency in Austria now

Practically from the very moment of the formation of the European Union, Austria became an active member of it. Therefore, it is not at all difficult to guess what currency is in Austria now. Of course, this is the euro. Although among the EU countries there were also such states that did not switch to the euro, but retained their national currency, Austria was not one of them.

In the course of absolutely all the banknotes and coins of this single European monetary unit. The exchange of the national currency for the euro took place in the country at the rate of about 13.75 Austrian schillings for one euro.

Course

For one dollar, as already mentioned above, they gave about 26 Austrian shillings.

The modern currency of Austria euro is one of the most popular and stable monetary units in the world. Perhaps the US dollar is in great demand. Economic indicators and per capita income are among the highest in Europe, not many countries demonstrate a similar success as Austria. Currency to the euro, although it was quite stable, but enjoyed much less demand in the global market.

The current exchange rate of the euro in relation to the ruble is approximately equal to 62-64 rubles. However, due to the unstable economic situation both in Russia and in Europe, the course is constantly changing. If you compare the euro with the US dollar, then for one euro you can get about $ 1.1.

Exchange transactions

Going to Austria, you need to take into account that Russians do not so often visit this state, so not every bank or exchange office works with Russian rubles. The most common foreign currency is the US dollar, it can be exchanged in almost any hotel, bank, exchange office, at the airport.

Also there will be no special problems with the exchange of the Czech currency and British pounds. Some financial companies work with other currencies, mostly European ones. The exchange fee is usually not too high.

The easiest way for a Russian tourist to exchange their rubles in advance for the euro, then not to look for a place where you can change the Russian currency. If you have dollars available, for example, you receive a salary in American currency, then you can safely take them with you. There will not be any problems with the exchange there.

In the country credit cards are accepted almost everywhere, but it is better to know beforehand whether such a method of payment is possible or not. There are ATMs in any city, even a small one. There are a lot of them in the country, so there will not be any difficulties with withdrawing cash from your bank card. The only thing that you might not like is the bank's commission for such an operation.

Interestingly, when making a purchase for more than seventy-five euros, the buyer has the right to return the VAT to himself. In Austria this is about thirteen percent. To do this, you need to take a check from the store, which is called Tax-free. After doing all the necessary actions, you will get your money back in cash. They will be given to you directly at the customs post when you leave Austria.

Conclusion

The currency of Austria today is not its national monetary unit, as it is used in many other countries. The euro does not cause priority associations with Austria, as a rule, it is perceived as a pan-European monetary unit.

But, despite the fact that Austria refused the shilling and moved to the euro, she did not lose her individuality and raisin. It's worth visiting this country, because it has a rich history, culture and beautiful mountain nature. And the fact that in the country the official state currency is the euro, only makes it easier for a traveler to visit this country. After all, all problems with the exchange of money and the loss of a significant part of its funds on commissions are almost completely excluded.

You can import any monetary unit into the country, be it Russian rubles or Chinese yuan, but it's best to have a Euro or American dollars with you. Then you can completely eliminate the possibility of any problems associated with the exchange of money. To carry out such an operation will be possible in almost any part of the country, in any locality. And as for the popular cities among tourists, then in general you can exchange almost any foreign money.

Although Austria's transition to the European currency did not become a fundamental factor for the formation of a pan-European currency, its stable, strong economy played an important role in this process. After all, if the euro was used exclusively in poor, economically disadvantaged countries, it is unlikely that it managed to take the position of the world currency along with the US dollar.