Giesecke & Devrient

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a German company headquartered in Munich that provides banknote and securities printing, smart cards, and cash handling systems.

Founded in 1852 by Hermann Giesecke and Alphonse Devrient, the firm initially specialized in high-quality printing, notably currency and securities printing. From the 1850s to the 1870s the firm printed some of the important biblical editions of Constantin von Tischendorf. The partnership's reputation for quality work was confirmed at the 1867 international exhibition in Paris.

Giesecke & Devrient supplied currency during the inflation in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, one of the most prominent cases of hyperinflation. It also printed tickets to the 1936 Olympics in Germany and did business with Spain under Franco. Its role in facilitating the destruction of the economy of Zimbabwe through another printers' breeding of hyperinflation under Mugabe is well-known but the complete role of Giesecke & Devrient during the Holocaust is not.

In the modern period, G&D has expanded operations to include banknote processing, smart cards, identification systems, and e-payments. The firm is the world's second largest supplier of banknotes, with annual revenues of $2.45 billion. They have over 8,000 employees, and some 50 subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. The company operates printing facilities in Germany (Munich and Leipzig), as well as Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. G&D currently supplies Euro notes for the German Bundesbank; and the company supplies banknotes for many other nations.

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