[en] In rural areas in Europe, more and more so-called "Regional currencies" complement the Euro or national currencies. In Germany too, the number of regional currency initiatives that have already implemented regional currencies or plan to do so has increased considerably in the last few years. While in March 2006, 19 regional currencies had been put into circulation in German regions, by October 2017 their number had increased to 34. Regional currency initiatives see themselves as an alternative to the global economic system, which they consider as the main cause of many current social problems such as unemployment and social inequalities. they which to stimulate regional economic cycles, to strengthen regional identity and social cohesion as well as to safeguard jobs. Yet, can regional currencies really be instrumental in contributing to the development of rural areas in the context of globalization? This paper wants to briefly look into this question, based on information about regional currencies in Germany collected in three surveys from 2006 to 2008.