How Much Money Do You Give for Confirmation? — Guide Values, Jugendweihe and Lasting Alternatives

The invitation is on the fridge, your godchild is turning 14, and one question keeps going round in your head: How much money do you give for confirmation? There is no fixed rule. ING explicitly writes in its guide (accessed 11/2026) that there are no specific amounts. We have found only one figure on the total a confirmand receives: according to a forsa survey commissioned by CosmosDirekt in 2015, 45 % of confirmands received a total of €1,000 or more, according to their parents. The figure is eleven years old, and the client is an insurer. What individual guests give is answered only by advice guides, and they are far apart.

How much money do you give for confirmation? Guide values by relationship

The table compares two advice guides per row, the lower figure on the left, the higher on the right. They are editorial guide values, not surveys, and nothing has been combined mathematically here. The sources do not always say exactly whether a value is meant per person or per household.

Relationship to the confirmand	Lower figure	Higher figure
Godmother, godfather	€100–150 (Evangelische Zeitung, 20 April 2024)	€100–300 (Biallo, updated 11 June 2024)
Grandparents	€100–150 (Evangelische Zeitung, 20 April 2024)	€100–500 (Biallo, updated 11 June 2024)
Parents, close family	€100–150 or a special wish (Berliner Sparkasse, accessed 11/2026)	€100–250 (FOCUS, 19 May 2025)
Aunt, uncle	€20–50 (Evangelische Zeitung, 20 April 2024)	€50–250 (Biallo, updated 11 June 2024)
Close friends	€20–50 (Evangelische Zeitung, 20 April 2024)	€50–100 (FOCUS, 19 May 2025)
Acquaintances, colleagues	€10–50 for acquaintances (Biallo, updated 11 June 2024)	€30–50 for acquaintances and colleagues (FOCUS, 19 May 2025)
Neighbours	€5–20 (Evangelische Zeitung, 20 April 2024)	€10–50 (Biallo, updated 11 June 2024)

The Evangelische Zeitung gives its amounts without a source; the €5–20 for friends and neighbours refers to the greeting card. Biallo writes that in some families the godparent is regarded as the main giver. Both show that the ranges help you find your bearings, nothing more. For the mental arithmetic, ING quotes the etiquette expert Elisabeth Bonneau: you should go by the value of a gift you would like to give and round up to the next round number. For people on a low income, that could be a 20-euro note; for a close family relationship in more affluent circles, €100 or more. FOCUS adds that a symbolic amount of around €20 with a personal letter can express just as much appreciation as a higher one.

What the survey says

On the total amount, we found one survey. In March 2015, the forsa institute, commissioned by CosmosDirekt, surveyed parents whose children had celebrated First Communion, confirmation or Jugendweihe in the three previous years. The press release of 22 May 2015 states:

• 45 % of confirmands received €1,000 or more in gifts, according to their parents; for Jugendweihe it was 31 %.
• 79 % of parents of confirmands stated that their child had put the money aside for the time being; for Jugendweihe it was 76 %.

Three limitations belong to this. First, the survey dates from 2015. Second, the client is an insurer with an interest in saving. Third, the sample comprises 768 parents for three occasions together, and the subgroups are not stated; the figure of 768 comes from earlier releases on the same survey. The figures are also parents' statements, not bank statements. Important for your decision: €1,000 is the total from all guests, not the gift of one individual. And it is a lower limit, not an average. We do not have an average value per giver.

Source: forsa commissioned by CosmosDirekt, survey March 2015, press release of 22 May 2015; the sample of 768 parents is stated in the releases of 31 March, 1 April and 7 April 2015.

Jugendweihe: the same question, a different setting

The Jugendweihe is a celebration without a religious connection, as the Berliner Sparkasse writes. The umbrella association Jugendweihe Deutschland e. V. calls it a rite of passage for young people between 13 and 15. It is common mainly in eastern Germany (Biallo); for Berlin and Brandenburg, the Berliner Sparkasse names around 3,100 participants for 2023, according to the association Jugendweihe Berlin-Brandenburg.

The advice guides hardly differ on the amounts: Biallo names the same ranges for Jugendweihe as for confirmation. The Berliner Sparkasse covers both celebrations together; there it names €100–150 or a special wish for parents. The survey shows 31 % with €1,000 or more for Jugendweihe, 45 % for confirmation. Biallo names godparents there too, but writes that godparenthood tends to belong to a religious context; young people who celebrate Jugendweihe can also have godparents. Gifts come from parents, grandparents, relatives, friends of the family and, where there are any, godparents. A lasting piece has to suit both celebrations, which is why the silver ideas further below are deliberately neutral.

Godparents and grandparents: tradition and today

In the past, the first wristwatch lay on the gift table, along with the hymnal and, for girls, silver cutlery for their trousseau, as evangelisch.de reports (2010). The same source also says that the times when such gifts were obligatory are long gone. According to pastor Wolfgang Prawitz, the gold chain with a cross was also valued back then. What has remained is the idea behind it: confirmation leads out of childhood, and the gift may reflect that.

Godparents and grandparents are usually at the upper end of the table. That does not mean the envelope alone has to fulfil their role. If you want to give more, you can put part in the card and invest part in a piece that the young person keeps.

Money, a wish or both?

14-year-olds have their own ideas, and the wish list comes first. Several relatives can pool their money for a bigger wish; then it helps to have a quick word with the parents beforehand so that nothing arrives twice. Freedom and simplicity speak for money: no exchanges, no wrong choice. A piece to keep has a different advantage. Money is saved or spent, as the survey also suggests; an object sits on the desk or on the key ring and is a reminder of the day you were taken seriously as a young person. If you are unsure, talk to the parents about whether the money should go into savings. We do not answer tax or legal questions about larger amounts; professional advice is available for that.

Lasting gifts in 925 sterling silver

A piece of silver is a bigger purchase than a single envelope. It is therefore suitable for godparents, parents or as a joint gift. Four ideas for young people:

• The letter opener by Zaramella is highly polished and without decoration, 18.5 cm long, a first silver piece of their own for the desk.
• The picture frame Berlin for pictures in the 10 × 15 format has a wide, curved surround. The photo from the special day looks just as good in it next to the schoolbook as on the chest of drawers.
• The lucky charm key ring combines five traditional good luck symbols: the horseshoe is considered a sign of good luck, the cloverleaf a symbol of hope and happiness, plus the number 13, a lucky horn and the mano cornuta. It is meant for anyone setting out on a new path. It cannot be engraved.
• The zodiac spoons take up the young person's zodiac sign; they cannot be engraved. More on this in the article First Communion and confirmation with zodiac signs.

The old idea of silver cutlery for a future household lives on in the table silver and silver cutlery. More pieces for the occasion are shown in the category confirmation gifts. More frames are shown in the category picture frames in 925 sterling silver.

Engraving and SilberVerse card

You can order an engraving right away via our engraving service. On the letter opener, the smooth grip surface is available for this; on the frame Berlin, the wooden back can be engraved reliably, and we engrave the silver surface after checking with Zaramella. We discuss the result of the check with you. If an engraving is not feasible, you get your money back for it, or we look for another piece together. Typical are the name and the date of confirmation; a confirmation verse only fits if it is very short, because the engraving area is limited.

With a piece of silver, you get a SilberVerse card if you wish, free of charge. The verse is created individually for the occasion and the name and is enclosed as a photo card in the 15 × 10 cm format. With a gift of money alone, the advice is to write a few sentences of your own on the greeting card. They stay in the mind longer than the amount.

Frequently asked questions about money for confirmation

How much do you give your godchild for confirmation?
The advice guides' ranges are shown in the table: €100–150 to €100–300. The Evangelische Zeitung adds that in the end it is the thought that counts, not the sum. Have a quick word with the parents about whether part should go towards a bigger wish; then nothing arrives twice.

How much do grandparents give for confirmation?
The Evangelische Zeitung names €100–150, Biallo €100–500; Biallo stresses that the amount depends heavily on the relationship and on regional customs. If both sets of grandparents are giving, feel free to ask whether the grandchild has a bigger wish that you can manage together.

How much do you give as an aunt or uncle?
Here the figures vary most widely, from €20–50 to €50–250. According to the Evangelische Zeitung, if you hardly know the young person and the parents, you can also leave it at a card. If you come as a family, a joint envelope or a joint piece is an option.

How much money do you receive in total for confirmation?
There is no average figure for this. We only found the forsa survey from 2015: 45 % of confirmands received a total of €1,000 or more, for Jugendweihe 31 %. According to the parents, 20 % spent the money immediately; among them, a computer including accessories was the most common purchase (56 %). We do not know today's amounts.

How much do you give for Jugendweihe?
FOCUS (29 June 2023) names €10–20 for neighbours and acquaintances and €50–100 for close relatives, often €100 for grandparents and €150 for parents. These are editorial values. If you want to give a neutral gift, any of the silver pieces mentioned above is suitable.

Further reading

• What do you give for confirmation?
• How much money do you give for First Communion?
• First Communion and confirmation: silver gifts with zodiac signs
• How much money do you give for a christening?