5 - Finanzplatz Deutschland

Summary

Banking stability has long been a hallmark of Germany’s economy. This image has been historically embodied by the solid stone façades of Germany’s largest banks (now replaced by the glass-and-steel Frankfurt skyline), as well as the stereotypical image of the conservative German banker, clad in his well-tailored dark suit and gazing sternly at the camera through wire-rimmed glasses. Ever since the rise to international prominence of German banking empires, such as the Fuggers, Welsers, and Rothschilds, in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, German bankers have had a reputation for prudence, competence, and stability. Until recently, this reputation was largely deserved: with the exception of the interwar era/Great Depression and the notable failure in 1974 of Herstatt Bank – a small private bank that highlighted problems of settlement risk in global finance – the German banking system has been remarkably resilient throughout modern history.