AT THE beginning of 1923 the German mark stood at 7,260 to the dollar. By October, hyperinflation had pushed that rate to 65 billion. Fixed incomes and savings became worthless. But one readily available investment retained its value. According to Frederick Taylor, the author of a new history of the period, shares in German firms, by and large, kept pace with the inflation, protecting from ruin the lucky few who had invested in them.

Ninety years later it is dangerously low inflation that threatens Europe. Yet one thing has not changed: most Germans still do not invest in local firms. Whereas over half of Americans own equities in some form, only 15% of Germans own shares directly, while a partly overlapping 21% own mutual funds. The omission is all the more striking since Germany’s main share index, the DAX, is at a record high and interest rates are at record lows.

From the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in 2008 to the end of October 2013, the DAX has risen by 42%, and the MDAX (an index of smaller firms) has risen by 93%. Ten-year German-government bonds would have returned 31% over the same period, and corporate bonds 29%. Yet Germans still prefer to put their money in safe-seeming but far less lucrative savings accounts. The most common sort, the Sparbücher, earned a mere 3.1% over the past five years.

Germans tend to see share ownership as a kind of gambling. Americans have 24-hour business-news channels with excitable hosts shouting stock tips at the middle class. The closest equivalent in Germany is Dirk Müller, a Frankfurt trader known as “Mr DAX”. He is a ubiquitous television pundit and his books sell well, but he is a rare voice trying to get Germans to venture beyond Sparbücher. He considers these “one of the lousiest products your bank can offer you”, with their limits on the frequency and size of withdrawals, and interest rates below the level of inflation.

Few Germans are listening. According to a 2011 poll for the Association of German Banks, Germans said they were saving “for old age” (30%), “for emergencies” (27%) and “for major purchases” (27%). Only 7% mentioned “building wealth”. Asked about the most important criterion for an investment, 60% said “security”; only 15% said “returns”.

Instead of switching to more rewarding investments, Germans have responded to low interest rates by cutting back on saving. German household saving rose steadily between 2000 and 2008, to a high of 11.5% of take-home income. But it has dropped since, reaching 10.3% last year. Postbank, a retail bank, expects these numbers to fall still further.