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The Historical Institute of Deutsche Bank

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2008

Martin L. Müller  and
Rachael Hewetson
Martin L. Müller
Affiliation:
Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt a. M.
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Abstract

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Type
Archive Survey
Information
Financial History Review , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , April 1997 , pp. 91 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © European Association for Banking and Financial History 1997

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References

2 Helfferich, K., Georg von Siemens. Ein Lebensbild aus Deutschlands grosser Zeit, vol. 3 (Berlin, 1923), p. 237.Google Scholar

3 Obst, G., ‘Bankarchive’, Bankwissenschaft, 6 (1929/1930), p. 592.Google Scholar

4 For Hahn's biography, see Haushofer, H., ‘Diederich Hahn’, Neue Deutsche Biographie, vol. 7 (Berlin, 1966), pp. 503–4Google Scholar; and, for his political position in the 1880s, see Nipperdey, T., Deutsche Geschichte 1866–1918. Vol. 1, Arbeitsivelt nnd Bürgergeist (Munich, 1990), p. 584.Google Scholar

5 Frankfurter Zeitung, 25 02 1918, p. 2.Google Scholar

6 On Fuchs's role in Deutsche Bank, see Wassermann, O., ‘Dr. Max Fuchs’, Monatshefte für die Beamten dcr Deutschen Bank (07 1929), pp. 105–6Google Scholar; and also ‘Dr. Max Fuchs’, Berliner Börsen-Zeitung, 30 04 1929Google Scholar; and Frankfurter Zeitung, 1 05 1929. Fuchs died at the age of 76 on 8 Jun. 1937.Google Scholar

7 Obst characterised the bank archives as ‘financial studies bureaux’, whose development he had observed since the turn of the century. According to Obst, the value of the archive – its scope and quality – arose from the specialist knowledge of its head, who was obviously ‘well educated in banking, business, economics and law’. See Obst, , ‘Bankarchive’, pp. 591–8.Google Scholar

8 Helfferich referred in the prologue to his biography of Siemens to the storage of files, by making the point, still valid today, that ‘in view of the recording methods of our business transactions, which are not designed for historiography, sorting through and evaluating the content of files would require an unimaginable amount of work’. See Helfferich, , Georg von Siemens, vol. 1 (Berlin, 1921), p. iv.Google Scholar

9 Unfortunately, it is not definitely known whether Disconto-Gesellschaft had a main records office – certainly this was not the case between 1889 and 1891. During this time, Franz Urbig, subsequent proprietor of Disconto-Gesellschaft, was in charge of the Chef-Kabinett [Board Secretariat] records office. The Chef-Kabinett, responsible for Disconto-Gesellschaft's participating interests, its bond issue operations and its most important business relations, was, along with the Direktionsbureau [Management Office], one of the two main departments of Disconto-Gesellschaft in Berlin. See Müller-Jabusch, M., Franz Urbig (2nd ed., 1954), pp. 19–21Google Scholar; and Die Disconto-Gesellschaft 1851–1901. Denkschrift zum Sojährigen Jubiläum (Berlin, 1901), pp. 240–1.Google Scholar

10 ‘Unsere Hauptregistratur’, Mitteilungen für die NSBO Deutsche Bank and Disconto-Gesellschaft, 15 06 1934, pp. 12–13.Google Scholar

11 On Palyi, and the ‘Board of Managing Directors' Scientific Advisory Board’Google Scholar, see Feldman, G. D., ‘The Deutsche Bank from the First World War to the Depression 1914–1933’, in Gall, L. et al. , The Deutsche Bank 1870–1995 (Munich, 1995), pp. 242–3Google Scholar; [English translation by Underwood, J. A., Geyer, D. and Deutsche Bank Language Services (Head Office) (London, 1995)]Google Scholar. However, Feldman's assumption that the ‘Scientific Advisory Board’ led to ‘a section in Deutsche Bank devoted to problems of national economy” is not quite correct. It is more accurate to say that the precursor is the ‘Archive’. For more information, see the files on Palyi – Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Historical Institute [hereafter HADB]: B 220.

12 Schmidt joined the Chef-Kabinett of Disconto-Gesellschaft in 1921, after completing his economic studies. For a short description of his career, see Industriekurier, 27 07 1957.Google Scholar

13 See also Deutsche Bank, head office, telephone book (1938), p. 54.

14 Only 66 files were recovered from the Economics Department, Deutsche Bank, head office, Berlin.

15 For more on Koslowsky's role, see the obituary by Koch, H., Archiv und Wirtschaft, 7 (1974), pp. 25–7.Google Scholar

16 See Simon, M., ‘Wirtschaftsarchivische Schriftenreihen’, Archiv mid Wirtschaft, 11 (1978), p. 65.Google Scholar

17 For correspondence with Treue, see HADB: GS, Historisches Archiv, vol. 2.

18 See Archiv and Wirtschaft, 5 (1972), p. 68.Google Scholar Since 1981 he has given lectures on banking history and in 1992 became a Honorary Professor at the University of Frankfurt.

19 ‘Business history’ was introduced by Pohl to replace the antiquated term previously used – ‘company history’. See Klarmann, N. G., ‘Die Insritutionalisierung der unternehmenshistorischen Forschung durch die Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte’, Bankhistorisches Archiv, 3 (1977), pp. 71–4.Google Scholar

20 See Pohl, M., Untemehmen und Geschichte (Mainz, 1992), pp. 77–82.Google Scholar

21 ibid., pp. 40–53.

22 Pohl, M., ‘Neue Perspektiven in der Bankengeschichte’, Tradition, 18 (1973), pp. 38–9Google Scholar; and, along similar lines, idem, ‘Einführung in Bankengeschichte, Part 1’, Bankhistorisches Archiv, 1 (1975), pp. 11–12.Google Scholar

23 See Hatke-Beck, B., ‘Quellensicherung und Informationsmanagenient als Aufgaben im Historischen Archiv der Deutschen Bank’, Archiv und Wirtschaft, 26 (1993), p. 8.Google Scholar

24 For more on the computer system, see Raab-Rebentisch, A., ‘EDV-Einsatz im Zentralarchiv der Deutschen Bank’, Archiv und Wirtschaft, 19 (1986), pp. 16–20.Google Scholar

25 Gall, L., Feldman, G. D., James, H., Holtfrerich, C.-L. and Büschgen, H. E., The Deutsche Bank 1870–1995 (Munich, 1995)Google Scholar; [English translation by Underwood, J. A., Geyer, D. and Deutsche Bank Language Services (Head Office) (London, 1995)].Google Scholar

26 For more information on the foundation, and tasks, of the Historical Association, see Historical Association of Deutsche Bank (ed.), Public Inaugural Meeting (Frankfurt a. M., 1991), pp. 5–14, 18–26.Google Scholar

27 Norddeutsche Bank, founded in 1856, was part of Disconco-Gesellschaft Group from 1895 and became part of Deutsche Bank's branch network after the merger of 1929.

28 Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte (1961), p. 280.Google Scholar

29 HADB: File: Vermerke und Ausstellungen zur Jahrhundertschrift, State Archive Administration to Seidenzahl, F., 27 08 1968.Google Scholar

30 Czichon, E., Der Bankier und die Macht. Hermann Josef Abs in der deutschen Politik (Cologne, 1970).Google Scholar In 1972, the Stuttgart District Court ordered the author and the publishing company to omit 32 assertions made in the book, a judgement which took it out of circulation. In 1995 a much revised version – Die Bank und die Macht. Hermann Josef Abs, die Deutsche Bank and die Politik (Cologne) -appeared, but which, of course, still had a polemic, anti-capitalist tone.

31 See HADB: File: Verschmelzung DB/DG 1929, Purchase agreement and annex, 27 Nov. 1933.

32 A list of the Chef-Kabinett files which were destroyed can be found in HADB: P 11817. The unique sources of great importance lost to economic history can be discerned from Däbritz, W., Gründung und Anfange der Disconto-Gesellschaft Berlin (Munich/Leipzig, 1931)Google Scholar, the author having had access to files from the Chef-Kabinett that were still then in existence.