Germans saw their marks replaced with euros

BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- For many senior citizens in Germany, the switch to the euro is a bit like going back to school and learning arithmetic again.

Seniors who took lessons on the euro ahead of its introduction had a lot of questions: What does the new money look like? How can they tell if they're given fake coins? How long do they have to change old Deutsche marks into new euros?

"The d-mark was always a strong currency, and for many Germans it also meant nationhood," said Cornelia Kather, a social worker who taught dozens of these classes in 2001. "Now they won't have their beloved D-mark anymore and they don't know exactly what will happen. That causes fear."

Kather said many elderly don't understand how the exchange of Deutsch marks for euros works. Some fear their pension will be worth half its old value.

Among the listeners in one class was Margot Schreiber. The 72-year-old said she understood the euro transition, but that she was angry shop owners raised prices before the changeover.

"Bread has become more expensive," she said. "Meat has become more expensive ... always just a few pfennigs, but each pfennig more means more euros."

The change hasn't worried Hedwig Diesener, a 92-year-old retired bookkeeper.

In her lifetime she has seen her share of changes in the way one pays for things. In 1923 she saw hyperinflation, when a bottle of milk suddenly cost 1 million marks. And after World War II, there was a new currency.

"In 1948 we all got 40 marks. That's how we all started," she said. "I am sometimes amazed that there are so many millionaires who all began with just 40 marks."

Then in 1990, when the two Germanys united, the change from eastern marks to Deutsch marks was easy too, she said.

In fact, Diesener has taught others a thing or two about a proper budget for 2002 -- with everything in euros.