the world of private banking
the world of private banking
the world of private banking
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206<br />
THE WORLD OF PRIVAtE BANKING<br />
to <strong>the</strong> financing <strong>of</strong> industry as early as <strong>the</strong> first decade <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nineteenth century<br />
and for many years had this field almost exclusively to <strong>the</strong>mselves. It was a highrisk<br />
business which o<strong>the</strong>r banks for a number <strong>of</strong> reasons felt reluctant to embark<br />
on. Among <strong>the</strong> handful <strong>of</strong> Cologne bankers active in venture-capital lending, <strong>the</strong><br />
Oppenheim Bank was by far <strong>the</strong> most active and creative, and thus helped to shape<br />
emerging capitalism and industry in Germany.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> scholar <strong>of</strong> <strong>banking</strong> history this means that <strong>the</strong> Oppenheim Archive is a<br />
must if doing research on <strong>the</strong> industrialization process in Germany between 1825<br />
and 1870. The archive, formally established in 1939 as one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first <strong>banking</strong><br />
archives in Germany, was not initially supposed to be used by outsiders, but to<br />
serve as a quick-and-easy means <strong>of</strong> information for members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Oppenheim<br />
family. The establishment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> archive came at a time when <strong>the</strong> family was<br />
under high pressure from <strong>the</strong> Nazi regime because <strong>of</strong> its Jewish ancestry. The<br />
archive <strong>the</strong>refore became a symbol <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> family’s unbroken sense <strong>of</strong> tradition<br />
and its will to persevere. As <strong>the</strong> main structuring element, <strong>the</strong> easily accessible<br />
principle <strong>of</strong> pertinence was chosen while priority in contents was laid on <strong>the</strong> great<br />
achievements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bank in <strong>the</strong> nineteenth century, which is why <strong>the</strong>se records<br />
still form <strong>the</strong> bulk and core <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> accessible material. <br />
The Specific Commitments <strong>of</strong> Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. during <strong>the</strong> Process<br />
<strong>of</strong> Industrialization<br />
By and large, <strong>the</strong> bank showed commercial interest in all branches <strong>of</strong> industrialization.<br />
The archival records pertaining to <strong>the</strong>se activities are arranged in files devoted to <strong>the</strong><br />
different companies. In addition, <strong>the</strong>re is <strong>the</strong> business and <strong>private</strong> correspondence<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> two Oppenheim bro<strong>the</strong>rs who ran <strong>the</strong> bank at that time.<br />
There are four main headings under which commitments can be grouped:<br />
1.<br />
2.<br />
3.<br />
4.<br />
shipping and railways<br />
mining and heavy industry<br />
<strong>the</strong> insurance business<br />
<strong>banking</strong>.<br />
<br />
H. Pohl, ‘Das deutsche Bankwesen (1806–1848)’, Deutsche Bankengeschichte, ed.<br />
im Auftrag des Instituts für bankhistorische Forschung, vol. 2 (Frankfurt am Main, 1982),<br />
pp. 18–33.<br />
<br />
For fur<strong>the</strong>r information about <strong>the</strong> Oppenheim archive, see G. Teichmann, ‘Archive<br />
Survey: Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie., Cologne’, in Financial History Review, vol. 1, 1994,<br />
pp. 69–78.