Call to Reimagine Euro Banknotes: Motifs include Austrian Peace Advocate Bertha von Suttner, Beethoven, Storks, and Europe’s Rivers

19 July 2025

Call to Reimagine Euro Banknotes: Motifs include Austrian Peace Advocate Bertha von Suttner, Beethoven, Storks, and Europe’s Rivers

A female designer sits at a desk in front of a window, creating a banknote design on her computer. To her left is a large mood board filled with inspirational images of portraits, birds, and currency.

Deadline Approaches: Design the Next Euro Banknotes
Applications for the European Central Bank's open design contest close at 12:00 CET on 18  August  2025. Graphic designers who live in an EU country are invited to submit credentials in the first phase; finalists will then propose full visual concepts for the third series of euro banknotes. The ECB will pick a winning set by the end of 2026, after another round of public consultation. The finished notes will enter circulation a few years later.

Design legacy: from Kalina to Gerstetter

The current euro notes trace their look to Austrian designer Robert Kalina, whose "Ages and Styles" concept—windows, doorways and bridges from seven architectural eras—won the 1996 competition and debuted with the single-currency cash launch in 2002. The openings symbolise Europe's openness; the bridges, interconnection.

A decade later German designer Reinhold Gerstetter refreshed the artwork for the "Europa series" (2013-2019). He kept Kalina's motifs but modernised colours, added new security layers and inserted a portrait of the mythic Europa, preserving neutrality by avoiding any real buildings or individuals.

Two themes, one contest

For the upcoming banknote series, the ECB consulted design experts and 365,000 citizens to determine which narratives new euro notes should convey. Two overarching themes emerged: "European culture", celebrating shared cultural venues and iconic European figures; and "Rivers and birds", spotlighting the continent's resilient ecosystems.

In its 31 January 2025 announcement, the ECB confirmed the specific motifs for each theme.

Under "European culture", the banknotes would feature:

• Maria Callas (€5) with street performers
• Ludwig van Beethoven (€10) accompanied by a children's song festival
• Marie Curie (€20) alongside a classroom scene
• Miguel de Cervantes (€50) with adults and children reading
• Leonardo da Vinci (€100) in a museum environment
• Bertha von Suttner (€200) in a public square setting

The "Rivers and birds" theme depicts:

• mountain spring with a wallcreeper, and the European Parliament on the reverse (€5)
• waterfall with a kingfisher, and the European Commission (€10)
• river valley with breeding bee-eaters, and the European Central Bank (€20)
• meandering river with a white stork, and the Court of Justice of the EU (€50)
• river mouth with an avocet, and the European Council (€100)
• seascape with a northern gannet, and the European Court of Auditors (€200)

This marks a historic shift: real individuals may appear on euro banknotes for the first time. A design competition and further public consultation will now help decide which theme prevails. Over more than two decades the stylised bridges and doors have stood through storms—not least Europe's migration crises, when crossings and thresholds became charged metaphors. The new culture and nature based themes seek to shift the conversation from borders to the common ground Europeans share.

Image: This symbolic, AI-generated image shows a female designer focused on creating banknote motifs at her computer in a bright office. To her left, a large inspiration board displays various reference images, including historical portraits, bird illustrations, landscapes, and AI-generated Euro banknotes. Photo: © Fashion.at generated with Imagen, Google AI Studio