ROBERT KALINA AND THE EURO
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Robert Kalina was born in 1955 in Austria. He has created the "Kalinas", which is how the Austrian people call the Euros, that will start their way in market in 2002. He worked in the Austrian National Bank until July 98 and he has created the new |
European currency which will be used by 280 million Europeans in 11 different countries.
Each one of the 7 notes he has designed represent a specific period of
the European history. The appearance of the seven bills, ranging from 5 to 500 euros, was
the result of a two-year secret competitive process. Originally, about thirty teams
entered the competition. The bills all carry a stilized map of the European continent on
one side and renderings of famous European architectural designs on the other side.
The new notes feature windows, bridges and gateways from various
architectural periods as a symbol of a unified Europe.
However, far from being non-specific, the bridge designs appeared to have
been borrowed wholesale from a standard manual on the subject "Bridges-300 years of
Defying nature". The 50 euro note, for example, showed the Rialto Bridge in Venice,
the 100 euro note, the Pont de Neuilly in Paris and the 500 euro note depicted the Pont de
Normandie. Furthermore, the five euronote showed the picture of an ancient pontoon bridge
in India -not a particularly european motif.
The bills will take two years to print and will be in circulation in 2002
and the transition period to a single currency has already begun in 1999.
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