Show content of Abs, Hermann J.
Biographical data: | 15.10.1901 in Bonn - 05.02.1994 in Bad Soden | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1938-1967 (Spokesman 1957-1967) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board 1967-1976 |
When Georg von Siemens, the leading figure in the foundation of Deutsche Bank, died in 1901, Hermann J. Abs was born. Together with Konrad Adenauer; Ludwig Erhard; Wilhelm Vocke, the President of the Bank deutscher Länder; and Hans Böckler, the trade union leader; Hermann J. Abs was one of the five Germans who became identified with the reconstruction of the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World War.
Born on October 15, 1901 in Bonn, Hermann J. Abs grew up in a very strict Catholic Rhineland family in a upper middle class environment that was influenced by a certain degree of resentment against the Prussians.
His talents were such that he could very easily have become a mathematician or conductor. But he preferred, after finishing his schooling, to complete an apprenticeship at the Bonn-based privately owned bank of Louis David.
After working abroad in Amsterdam, London, North and South America, he started his career as a private bankier with one of the most important Berlin-based private banks, at "Delbrück Schickler & Co.". In January 1938, Abs joined the Board of Managing Directors of Deutsche Bank, seeing as he saw a greater opportunity for his own career development here than with a privately owned bank.
During the National Socialist period, Abs was responsible at the bank for its foreign business and, such being the case, he came into contact with the aggressive expansion policies of the regime. He, however, attempted to maintain his distance to National Socialism and never joined the party. But Abs was not a hero. When asked in a personal discussion about his relationship to National Socialism, he frankly expressed one single word: "fearful".
Recently, there has been a heated debate among historians on the role Abs played during the National Socialist period.
However, Hermann J. Abs' most important period was after the Second World War following a brief imprisonment by the Allies when he was involved in the reconstruction of Germany. In 1948 he participated in the establishment of the Bank deutscher Länder and, in November 1948, founded the Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW), which administrated the funds from the Marshal Plan. His political masterpiece, however, was during the negotiations on German foreign debt in London. With the London Debt Agreement of 1953, Germany's creditworthiness was re-established abroad.
During this same period at the beginning of the fifties, he worked towards the reunification of the German big banks that had been broken up following the Second World War. These efforts were successful in 1957, and Abs became the first Spokesman of the reunited Deutsche Bank, a position he held until 1967. During this period, he strengthened Deutsche Bank's contacts with industry and re-established old relationships in foreign trade.
From 1967 to 1976, Abs was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank. Alongside his work as a banker, Hermann J. Abs always had an involvement with art. He was Chairman of the Administration of the Städel Art Museum in Frankfurt am Main, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Patrons' Association of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and Chairman of the Beethoven-Haus Society in Bonn. In 1991 he was a founding member of the Historical Association of Deutsche Bank. Hermann J. Abs died on February 5, 1994.
Show content of Achleitner, Paul
Biographical data: | 1956 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank AG since 31 May 2012 |
Show content of Ackermann, Josef
Biographical data: | 1948 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1996-2012 (Spokesman 2002-2006, Chairman 2006 - 31 May 2012) |
Show content of Adelssen, Anton
Biographical data: | December 18, 1824 in Koenigsberg - June 29, 1898 in Berlin |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1898 |
see Cohen, Anton
Show content of Albrecht, George
Biographical data: | 02.08.1834 in Hannover - 24.11.1898 in Bremen |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1898 |
The merchant from Hanover was one of the three Bremen founding draftsmen who were won over for an investment at Deutsche Bank in 1870. He contributed 50,000 thalers. The Bremen shareholders (in addition to Albrecht, these were Hermann Heinrich Meier and Alexander Georg Mosle) were not on the primary list of draftsmen, possibly they had only been able to interest the initiators of the foundation in the project of a German bank to finance foreign trade a short time before the foundation. Albrecht's commitment was represented by the aforementioned Meier, who was involved in the founding process and possibly opened the door for those involved in Bremen. A connection to Bremen's foreign trade center was extremely important for the new bank, for which international trade finance was to become an important business area.
Albrecht was a partner in Johann Lange Sohn’s Wwe. & Co. in Bremen. He headed the traditional shipping company, which also operated as a trading house, until his death in 1898. The company was active in the import and export business with countries in Western Europe, America and Africa and traded in wool, among other things. Albrecht himself was also active in the Bremen textile industry, he sat on the administrative board of the Bremen wool combing and in the association of Bremen wool merchants. In 1864 he married the daughter of the businessman Ludwig Knoop, who had become one of the leading entrepreneurs of his time through the textile trade and the establishment of a textile industry in Russia. Albrecht had been the Austro-Hungarian consul since 1895. Not only did he stay with Deutsche Bank as a member of the board of directors, to which he had been a member from the first meeting, until his death, but he was also deputy chairman of the local committee of the Bremen branch, which had opened in 1871.
In addition to everyday business, Albrecht was interested in geography; He was a co-founder of the Geographical Society in Bremen and financed various research trips, for example the second German North Pole expedition, in which he was even involved in the planning.
Show content of Bamberger, Ludwig
Biographical data: | 22.07.1823 in Mainz - 14.03.1899 in Berlin | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Supervisory Board 1870-1872 |
Show content of Bänziger, Hugo
Biographical data: | 1956 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2006 - 31 May 2012 |
Show content of Bechtolf, Erich
Biographical data: | 08.04.1891 in Elberfeld - 30.10.1969 in Hamburg | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1942-1945 and 1957-1959, Chairman of the Supervisory Board 1960-1967 |
Show content of Bischoffsheim, Henry
Biographical data: | 17.02.1829 in Amsterdam - 11.03.1908 in London |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1874 |
Show content of Blessing, Werner
Biographical data: | 23.04.1931 in Basel - 21.08.1987 on the Chiemsee | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1981-1987 |
Show content of Blinzig, Alfred
Biographical data: | 16.01.1869 in Stuttgart - 04.10.1945 in Bayreuth | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1920-1934 |
Show content of Boehm-Bezing, Carl L. von
Biographical data: | 20.05.1940 in Wroclaw |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1990-2001 |
Show content of Boner, Franz A.
Biographical data: | 14.08.1868 in Emden - 05.07.1941 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen | ![]() |
Institution: | Disconto-Gesellschaft / Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Joint Proprietor / Member of the Management Board 1922-1932 |
Show content of Bonn, Paul
Biographical data: | 10.05.1882 - unknown | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1928-1930 |
Show content of Börsig, Clemens
Biographical data: | 1948 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2001-2006, Chairman of the Supervisory Board 2006 - 31 May 2012 |
Show content of Breuer, Rolf-E.
Biographical data: | 03.11.1937 in Bonn |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1985-2002 (Spokesman 1997-2002), Chaiman of Supervisory Board 2002-2006 |
Show content of Brunswig, Peter
Biographical data: | 19.06.1879 in Neustrelitz - 22.01.1953 in Bonn | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1933-1934 |
Show content of Burgard, Horst
Biographical data: | 28.01.1929 in Traben-Trarbach - 23.11.1999 | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1971-1993 |
Show content of Campelli, Fabrizio
Biographical data: | 1973 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board since November 2019 |
Show content of Cartellieri, Ulrich
Biographical data: | 1937 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1981-1997 |
Show content of Christians, F. Wilhelm
Biographical data: | 01.05.1922 in Paderborn - 24.05.2004 in Düsseldorf | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1965-1988 (Spokesman 1976-1988), Chairman of the Supervisorey Board 1990-1997 |
more information
Brought to Light - Documents pertaining to the history of Deutsche Bank [1]
Show content of Cohn, Anton
Biographical data: | 18.12.1824 in Königsberg - 29.06.1898 in Berlin |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1898 |
In 1881 Anton changed his name into Adelssen by taking the family name of his wife Anna. His bank in Berlin Cohn, Bürger & Co. was renamed Adelssen & Co.
Show content of Cohrs, Michael
Biographical data: | 1956 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2009-2010 |
Show content of Craven, John A.
Biographical data: | 23.10.1940 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1990-1996 |
Show content of Cryan, John
Biographical data: | 1960 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2015-18 (Co-Chairman 2015-16, Chairman May 2016 - April 2018) |
Show content of Deichmann, Adolf
Biographical data: | 27.10.1831 in Cologne - 12.11.1907 in Dresden |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1871 |
Show content of Delbrück, Adelbert
Biographical data: | 16.01.1822 in Magdeburg - 26.05.1890 in Kreuzlingen | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Chairman of the Supervisory Board 1871-1889 |
Show content of Di Iorio, Anthony
Biographical data: | 1943 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2006-2008 |
Show content of Dobson, Michael
Biographical data: | 13.05.1952 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1996-2000 |
Show content of Ehret, Robert
Biographical data: | 19.07.1925 in Mannheim |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1970-1985 |
Show content of Eltzbacher, Jacob Löb
Biographical data: | 07.05.1825 in Neuenkirchen - 04.09.1876 in Mehlem |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1876 |
Show content of Endres, Michael
Biographical data: | 1937 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1988-1998 |
Show content of Fehr, Selmar
Biographical data: | 25.03.1874 in Brunswig - 21.06.1934 in Berlin | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1923-1930 |
Show content of Feith, Hans
Biographical data: | 16.04.1910 in Eitorf/Sieg - 03.02.1986 in Frankfurt am Main | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1959-1976 |
Show content of Fischer, Hermann
Biographical data: | 22.11.1873 in Magdeburg - 24.08.1940 in Berlin | ![]() |
Institution: | Disconto-Gesellschaft | |
Functions: | Joint Proprietor 1914-1919, Member of the Supervisory Board 1920-1929, Member of the Supervisory Board of Deutschen Bank and Disconto-Gesellschaft 1929-1931 |
Show content of Fischer, Paul David
Biographical data: | 02.06.1836 in Berlin - 13.03.1920 in Berlin | ![]() |
Institution: | Disconto-Gesellschaft | |
Functions: | Member of the Supervisory Board 1899-1902, Chairman of the Supervisory Board 1902-1920 |
Show content of Fischer, Thomas R.
Biographical data: | 1947 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1999 - 2002 |
Show content of Fitschen, Jürgen
Biographical data: | 1948 |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 2001-2002 and 2009-2016 (Co-Chairman 2012-2016) |
Show content of Frank, Theodor
Biographical data: | 10.04.1871 in Grethen/Pfalz - 28.10.1953 in Zurich | ![]() |
Institution: | Disconto-Gesellschaft / Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Joint Proprietor / Member of the Management Board 1922-1933 |
Show content of Frege, Martin
Biographical data: | 1834 - unknown |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank |
Functions: | Member of the Administrative Board 1870-1874 |
Show content of Frowein, Robert
Biographical data: | 04.01.1893 in Remscheid - 22.12.1958 in Frankfurt am Main | ![]() |
Institution: | Deutsche Bank | |
Functions: | Member of the Management Board 1943-1945 and 1957-1958 |