
The ''Bank für Handel und Industrie'' in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
, often referred to as ''Darmstädter Bank'', was a significant joint-stock bank in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, active from 1853 until its merger with
Nationalbank für Deutschland Nationalbank may refer to:
* Danmarks Nationalbank, the central bank of Denmark
* Nationalbank für Deutschland, a bank that merged into Darmstädter und Nationalbank in 1922
* Oesterreichische Nationalbank
The (, , abbr. ) is the Nationa ...
to form
Danat-Bank
The ''Darmstädter und Nationalbank'', in shorthand Danat-Bank or Danatbank, was a large German joint-stock bank. It was formed in 1922 from the merger of the Bank für Handel und Industrie (Darmstadt), known as Darmstädter Bank, and the Nation ...
in 1922.
Overview
The ''Bank für Handel und Industrie'' was founded by
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
bankers
Wilhelm Ludwig Deichmann,
Gustav Mevissen,
Abraham Oppenheim and Victor Wendelstadt.
It was established with a capital of 25 million guilders and modelled after the French bank
Crédit Mobilier, in whose creation in 1852 Oppenheim had been involved and from which it secured backing for the new venture.
The Darmstädter Bank received its banking concession on 2 April , and started operations shortly afterwards. It was thus the second universal bank in Germany founded as a joint-stock company (
Aktiengesellschaft
(; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...
), after the
A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bankverein in 1848. (The
Disconto-Gesellschaft
The Disconto-Gesellschaft (, full name Direktion der Disconto-Gesellschaft) was a significant German bank, founded in Berlin in 1851. It was one of the largest German banking organizations until its 1929 merger into Deutsche Bank.
History
The ...
had been established in Berlin in 1851, but only became a joint-stock company in 1856.) The choice of Darmstadt was motivated by
regulatory arbitrage, since no concession for a joint-stock bank could be obtained in either the
Free City of Frankfurt
Frankfurt was a major city of the Holy Roman Empire, being the seat of imperial elections since 885 and the city for Coronation of the Holy Roman emperor, imperial coronations from 1562 (previously in Free Imperial City of Aachen) until 1792. F ...
or the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
, while the
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
allowed for easier arrangements.
Despite the inspiration from Crédit Mobilier, the model for the new bank's statutory documents was the
A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bankverein, restructured five years earlier with the critical involvement of Deichmann, Mevissen and Wendelstadt.
The bank soon opened an agency in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
in 1854 (transformed into a branch in 1864), and branches and affiliates in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
,
Breslau,
Heilbronn
Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District.
From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...
,
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
,
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, and
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
as well as
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in the 1850s and in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
,
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
and
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in the 1860s.
In 1871, the Darmstädter Bank led the creation of
Amsterdamsche Bank in the Netherlands, and partnered with
Anglo-Austrian Bank and
Wiener Bankverein
The Wiener Bankverein or Bank-Verein (WBV, ) was a major bank in the Habsburg Monarchy and the First Austrian Republic, founded in 1869. In 1888 it was the fourth-largest bank of Austria-Hungary by market capitalization, behind the Austro-Hunga ...
to create the , a joint-stock bank in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
;
but that venture soon faltered and was acquired by the
Imperial Ottoman Bank in 1874.
In 1873, the bank moved its headquarters to Berlin, having opened a branch there in 1871, but remained colloquially referred to as the Darmstädter Bank. It was one of the four so-called "D-Banks" that dominated German commercial banking at the time (all of which had names starting with a D), together with
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
...
,
Dresdner Bank
Dresdner Bank AG () was a German bank, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...
, and
Disconto-Gesellschaft
The Disconto-Gesellschaft (, full name Direktion der Disconto-Gesellschaft) was a significant German bank, founded in Berlin in 1851. It was one of the largest German banking organizations until its 1929 merger into Deutsche Bank.
History
The ...
.
In 1889, it participated in the creation of the
Deutsch-Asiatische Bank in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and in 1898, in that of the
Banque Internationale de Bruxelles. Around 1900 it became a shareholder of Belgium-based
Crédit Anversois.
Further German branches were opened in
Stettin
Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...
(1900),
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
(1901),
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
,
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, and
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
(1910).
By end-1908, the Darmstädter Bank was the fourth-largest German joint-stock bank by total deposits, with a total of 109 million Marks, behind
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
...
(489 million),
Dresdner Bank
Dresdner Bank AG () was a German bank, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...
(225 million), and
Disconto-Gesellschaft
The Disconto-Gesellschaft (, full name Direktion der Disconto-Gesellschaft) was a significant German bank, founded in Berlin in 1851. It was one of the largest German banking organizations until its 1929 merger into Deutsche Bank.
History
The ...
(219 million). In 1913, it took over the based in
Breslau. Between 1918 and 1921, it opened many more branches across Germany, and acquired majority ownership of
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
-based
Mercurbank,
before merging with the Nationalbank für Deutschland in 1922.
File:Berlin-Mitte Postkarte 067.jpg, Postcard of the head office of the Darmstädter Bank in Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Schinkelplatz 1–4, ca. 1900
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H28575, Berlin, Schinkelplatz, Danat-Bank.jpg, The same building in 1925, showing southward expansion (left); the building was destroyed during World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
File:Hugo Vogel - Die Industrie unter dem Schutz der Krone.jpg, ''Industry under the protection of the Crown">ermanCrown'' (1894), mural painting by Hugo Vogel in the Berlin head office (destroyed during World War II)
See also
*
A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bankverein
*
Disconto-Gesellschaft
The Disconto-Gesellschaft (, full name Direktion der Disconto-Gesellschaft) was a significant German bank, founded in Berlin in 1851. It was one of the largest German banking organizations until its 1929 merger into Deutsche Bank.
History
The ...
References
{{Reflist
Defunct banks of Germany
Banks established in 1881
Dresdner Bank
1853 establishments in the German Confederation