Dresdner Bank: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|German bank, 1872–2009}}
{{Short description|German bank (1872–2009)}}
{{Infobox company
{{Infobox company
| name            = Dresdner Bank AG
| name            = Dresdner Bank AG
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| logo_size        = 250px
| logo_size        = 250px
| logo_caption    = Logo in the 2000s
| logo_caption    = Logo in the 2000s
| image            = File:Hotel de Rome, Berlin (1X7A5173).jpg
| image            = File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H28533, Berlin, Behrenstraße, Dresdner Bank.jpg
| image_caption    = {{ill|Former Dresdner Bank head office|de|Geschäftszentrale der Dresdner Bank (Berlin)}} on the [[Bebelplatz]] in [[Berlin]] (1889–1945), later [[Deutsche Notenbank]] (1953–1968), [[Staatsbank der DDR]] (1968–1990), and a luxury hotel since 2006
| image_caption    = 1926 view of the {{ill|Dresdner Bank head office|de|Geschäftszentrale der Dresdner Bank (Berlin)}} on the [[Bebelplatz]] in [[Berlin]] (1889–1945), later [[Deutsche Notenbank]] (1953–1968), [[Staatsbank der DDR]] (1968–1990), and a luxury hotel since 2006
| type            = [[Aktiengesellschaft]]
| type            = [[Aktiengesellschaft]]
| foundation      = {{Start date|1872|11|12}}
| foundation      = {{Start date|1872|11|12}}
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By 1930, Dresdner Bank was Germany's third-largest joint-stock bank by total deposits with 2.3 billion Reichsmarks, behind [[Deutsche Bank und Disconto-Gesellschaft]] (4.8 billion) and [[Danat-Bank]] (2.4 billion), and ahead of [[Commerz- und Privatbank]] (1.5 billion), [[Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft]] (619 million), and [[Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft]] (412 million).<ref name=Whale>{{citation |url=https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/whale/JointStockBankingGermany.pdf |title=Joint Stock Banking in Germany: A Study of the German Creditbanks Before and After the War |author=P. Barrett Whale |year=1930}}</ref>{{rp|354}}
By 1930, Dresdner Bank was Germany's third-largest joint-stock bank by total deposits with 2.3 billion Reichsmarks, behind [[Deutsche Bank und Disconto-Gesellschaft]] (4.8 billion) and [[Danat-Bank]] (2.4 billion), and ahead of [[Commerz- und Privatbank]] (1.5 billion), [[Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft]] (619 million), and [[Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft]] (412 million).<ref name=Whale>{{citation |url=https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ugcm/3ll3/whale/JointStockBankingGermany.pdf |title=Joint Stock Banking in Germany: A Study of the German Creditbanks Before and After the War |author=P. Barrett Whale |year=1930}}</ref>{{rp|354}}


As a consequence of state intervention during the [[European banking crisis of 1931|banking crisis of 1931]], the [[German Reich]] owned 66% and [[Deutsche Golddiskontbank]] owned 22% of Dresdner Bank shares; the total government stake in Dresdner Bank reached 97 percent, and (unlike at Deutsche Bank) resulted in significant interference in the bank's management.<ref name=Bel>{{citation |title=Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany |author=Germà Bel |journal=Economic History Review |issue=1 |date=February 2010 |volume=63 |pages=34–55 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2009.00473.x |jstor=27771569 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27771569|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|7}} As part of the same restructuring, Dresdner Bank acquired full ownership of the former Danat-Bank, of [[Mercurbank]] in [[Vienna]],<ref name=HandbookAT>{{citation |title=Army Service Forces Manual M360-5 / Civil Affairs Handbook Austria - Section 5: Money and Banking |publisher=U.S. Army Service Forces |location=Washington DC |author=Federal Reserve Board |date=November 1943 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ilWzgEACAAJ }}</ref>{{rp|14}} and of [[Deutsche Orientbank]] in [[Istanbul]]. Its deputy director was [[Hjalmar Schacht]], soon-to-be Minister of Economy under [[Nazi Germany|Nazism]].  
As a consequence of state intervention during the [[European banking crisis of 1931|banking crisis of 1931]], the [[German Reich]] owned 66% and [[Deutsche Golddiskontbank]] owned 22% of Dresdner Bank shares; the total government stake in Dresdner Bank reached 97 percent, and (unlike at Deutsche Bank) resulted in significant interference in the bank's management.<ref name=Bel>{{citation |title=Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany |author=Germà Bel |journal=Economic History Review |issue=1 |date=February 2010 |volume=63 |pages=34–55 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2009.00473.x |jstor=27771569 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27771569|url-access=subscription}}</ref>{{rp|7}} As part of the same restructuring, Dresdner Bank acquired full ownership of the former Danat-Bank, of [[Mercurbank]] in [[Vienna]],<ref name=HandbookAT>{{citation |title=Army Service Forces Manual M360-5 / Civil Affairs Handbook Austria - Section 5: Money and Banking |publisher=U.S. Army Service Forces |location=Washington DC |author=Federal Reserve Board |date=November 1943 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ilWzgEACAAJ}}</ref>{{rp|14}} and of [[Deutsche Orientbank]] in [[Istanbul]]. Its deputy director was [[Hjalmar Schacht]], soon-to-be Minister of Economy under [[Nazi Germany|Nazism]].  


==Nazi era==
==1933-1945==


Following [[Adolf Hitler]]'s assumption of power in 1933, the Dresdner Bank, which had been founded by a Jewish banker, [[Eugen Gutmann]], fired all 600 Jewish employees, including board members as well as bank clerks, and cancelled or confiscated their pensions. In May of 1933, "Nazi brownshirts swarmed into the lobby of the Dresdner headquarters and smashed the bronze bust of Eugen to the ground." The bank was declared "Judenrein' ("cleansed" of Jews) and became a tool of Hitler's Nazi regime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Simon |title=The Orpheus Clock: the search for my family's art treasures stolen by the Nazis |date=2015 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-1-4516-9764-3 |location=New York |pages=98}}</ref>
Following [[Adolf Hitler]]'s assumption of power in 1933, the Dresdner Bank, which had been founded by a Jewish banker, [[Eugen Gutmann]], fired all 600 Jewish employees, including board members as well as bank clerks, and cancelled or confiscated their pensions. In May of 1933, "Nazi brownshirts swarmed into the lobby of the Dresdner headquarters and smashed the bronze bust of Eugen to the ground." The bank was declared "Judenrein' ("cleansed" of Jews) and became a tool of Hitler's Nazi regime.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodman |first=Simon |title=The Orpheus Clock: the search for my family's art treasures stolen by the Nazis |date=2015 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-1-4516-9764-3 |location=New York |pages=98}}</ref>
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The "Aryanized" bank fully participated in the Nazi regime's [[aryanization]] of Jewish businesses and became known as the bank of choice for [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s [[SS]].<ref name="hitlersbankers">[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,401575,00.html "Hitler's Willing Bankers"]. ''Spiegel Online International''.</ref> As with other banks that had been nationalized to various degrees in 1931, Dresdner Bank was reprivatised in stages in 1936-1937.{{R|Bel|p=7}}
The "Aryanized" bank fully participated in the Nazi regime's [[aryanization]] of Jewish businesses and became known as the bank of choice for [[Heinrich Himmler]]'s [[SS]].<ref name="hitlersbankers">[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,401575,00.html "Hitler's Willing Bankers"]. ''Spiegel Online International''.</ref> As with other banks that had been nationalized to various degrees in 1931, Dresdner Bank was reprivatised in stages in 1936-1937.{{R|Bel|p=7}}


After the Nazi [[Anschluss]] in 1938, Dresdner Bank on {{date|1938/06/15}} acquired ownership of Vienna-based [[Länderbank]] through its local subsidiary the Mercurbank, in a transaction forced under duress.<ref>{{cite web |website=Wien Geschichte Wiki |title=Mercurbank |url=https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Mercurbank }}</ref> The Prague-based [[Živnostenská Banka]]'s Austrian subsidiary was simultaneously subsumed in the merged entity, renamed {{lang|de|Länderbank Wien AG}}. The new Länderbank had 33 branch offices in Vienna (36 after acquisition of the Austrian business of {{lang|it|Società Italiana di Credito}} in 1939), in comparison to 24 for the rival Creditanstalt-Bankverein that had come under control of Deutsche Bank.  
After the Nazi [[Anschluss]] in 1938, Dresdner Bank on {{date|1938/06/15}} acquired ownership of Vienna-based [[Länderbank]] through its local subsidiary the Mercurbank, in a transaction forced under duress.<ref>{{cite web |website=Wien Geschichte Wiki |title=Mercurbank |url=https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Mercurbank}}</ref> The Prague-based [[Živnostenská Banka]]'s Austrian subsidiary was simultaneously subsumed in the merged entity, renamed {{lang|de|Länderbank Wien AG}}. The new Länderbank had 33 branch offices in Vienna (36 after acquisition of the Austrian business of {{lang|it|Società Italiana di Credito}} in 1939), in comparison to 24 for the rival Creditanstalt-Bankverein that had come under control of Deutsche Bank.  


Later in 1938 following the [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|Nazi annexation]] of the [[Sudetenland]], Dresdner Bank, through {{lang|de|Länderbank Wien}}, took over the former branches of the [[Böhmische Escompte-Bank]] in the South Moravian towns of [[Břeclav]] ({{langx|de|Lundenburg}}), [[Mikulov]] ({{langx|de|Nikolsburg}}) and [[Znojmo]] ({{langx|de|Znaim}}).<ref name=UC4>{{cite web |website=Bank Austria |title=Überblick 1938-1945 |url=https://www.bankaustria.at/geschichte/ueberblick-1938-1945.jsp }}</ref> In subsequent years, most of the Länderbank's resources were used to finance the Nazi war effort,<ref name=WHW_Laenderbank>{{cite web |website=Wien Geschichte Wiki |title=Österreichische Länderbank |url=https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/%C3%96sterreichische_L%C3%A4nderbank }}</ref> while in March 1939, Dresdner Bank acquired control of Böhmische Escompte-Bank.  
Later in 1938 following the [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|Nazi annexation]] of the [[Sudetenland]], Dresdner Bank, through {{lang|de|Länderbank Wien}}, took over the former branches of the [[Böhmische Escompte-Bank]] in the South Moravian towns of [[Břeclav]] ({{langx|de|Lundenburg}}), [[Mikulov]] ({{langx|de|Nikolsburg}}) and [[Znojmo]] ({{langx|de|Znaim}}).<ref name=UC4>{{cite web |website=Bank Austria |title=Überblick 1938-1945 |url=https://www.bankaustria.at/geschichte/ueberblick-1938-1945.jsp}}</ref> In subsequent years, most of the Länderbank's resources were used to finance the Nazi war effort,<ref name=WHW_Laenderbank>{{cite web |website=Wien Geschichte Wiki |title=Österreichische Länderbank |url=https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/%C3%96sterreichische_L%C3%A4nderbank}}</ref> while in March 1939, Dresdner Bank acquired control of Böhmische Escompte-Bank.  


During [[World War II]], Dresdner Bank took over the [[Böhmische Escompte-Bank]] in [[Prague]], the Societatea Bancară Română in [[Bucharest]], the Handels- und Kreditbank in [[Riga]], and the Kontinentale Bank in [[Brussels]]. It also maintained majority control of the Kommerzialbank in [[Kraków]], Deutsche Handels- und Kreditbank in [[Bratislava]], Banque Bulgare de Commerce in [[Sofia]], and founded the Handelstrust West N. V. in [[Amsterdam]].{{cn|date=December 2023}} Following the [[invasion of Yugoslavia]] and proclamation of the [[Independent State of Croatia]], Dresdner Bank took a 53 percent stake in [[Jugoslavenska Banka]], renamed {{lang|de|Kroatische Landesbank}} by court order of {{date|1941/06/3}}.<ref name=HandbookYU>{{citation |title=Army Service Forces Manual M355-5 / Civil Affairs Handbook Yugoslavia: Money and Banking |publisher=U.S. Army Service Forces |location=Washington DC |author=Federal Reserve Board |date=February 1944 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1l7niteyT8C&q=%22Jugoslavenska+udru%C5%BEena+banka%22+anglo }}</ref>{{rp|94}} Also in 1941, Dresdner Bank took over management control of the [[Bank of Athens]] during the [[Axis occupation of Greece]], without however taking ownership out of consideration for Italian sensitivities.<ref>{{cite book |title=Occupied Economies: An Economic History of Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1939-1945 |url=https://dokumen.pub/occupied-economies-an-economic-history-of-nazi-occupied-europe-1939-1945-1845204824-9781845204822-o-4627421.html |author=Hein A.M. Klemann & Sergei Kudryashov |publisher=Berg |year=2012}}</ref> In September 1941, Dresdner Bank appropriated a block of shares owned by {{lang|fr|Union européenne industrielle et financière}}, an affiliate of the French [[Schneider-Creusot]] group, in the [[Hungarian General Credit Bank]].<ref name=Kovacs2>{{citation  |title=The swan song of the Hungarian General Credit Bank |author=Tamás Kovács |date=October 2017 |volume=4 |journal=Economy and Finance (GÉP) |issue=3 |publisher=Hungarian Banking Association |location=Budapest |url=https://bankszovetseg.hu/Public/gep/2017/219-231%20Kovacs%20Tamasuj.pdf }}</ref>{{rp|221}}  
During [[World War II]], Dresdner Bank took over the [[Böhmische Escompte-Bank]] in [[Prague]], the Societatea Bancară Română in [[Bucharest]], the Handels- und Kreditbank in [[Riga]], and the Kontinentale Bank in [[Brussels]]. It also maintained majority control of the Kommerzialbank in [[Kraków]], Deutsche Handels- und Kreditbank in [[Bratislava]], Banque Bulgare de Commerce in [[Sofia]], and founded the Handelstrust West N. V. in [[Amsterdam]].{{cn|date=December 2023}} Following the [[invasion of Yugoslavia]] and proclamation of the [[Independent State of Croatia]], Dresdner Bank took a 53 percent stake in [[Jugoslavenska Banka]], renamed {{lang|de|Kroatische Landesbank}} by court order of {{date|1941/06/3}}.<ref name=HandbookYU>{{citation |title=Army Service Forces Manual M355-5 / Civil Affairs Handbook Yugoslavia: Money and Banking |publisher=U.S. Army Service Forces |location=Washington DC |author=Federal Reserve Board |date=February 1944 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1l7niteyT8C&q=%22Jugoslavenska+udru%C5%BEena+banka%22+anglo}}</ref>{{rp|94}} Also in 1941, Dresdner Bank took over management control of the [[Bank of Athens]] during the [[Axis occupation of Greece]], without however taking ownership out of consideration for Italian sensitivities.<ref>{{cite book |title=Occupied Economies: An Economic History of Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1939-1945 |url=https://dokumen.pub/occupied-economies-an-economic-history-of-nazi-occupied-europe-1939-1945-1845204824-9781845204822-o-4627421.html |author=Hein A.M. Klemann & Sergei Kudryashov |publisher=Berg |year=2012}}</ref> In September 1941, Dresdner Bank appropriated a block of shares owned by [[Union Européenne Industrielle et Financière]], an affiliate of the French [[Schneider-Creusot]] group, in the [[Hungarian General Credit Bank]].<ref name=Kovacs2>{{citation  |title=The swan song of the Hungarian General Credit Bank |author=Tamás Kovács |date=October 2017 |volume=4 |journal=Economy and Finance (GÉP) |issue=3 |publisher=Hungarian Banking Association |location=Budapest |url=https://bankszovetseg.hu/Public/gep/2017/219-231%20Kovacs%20Tamasuj.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|221}}  


Dresdner Bank helped to finance concentration camps, including [[Auschwitz]].<ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1865973,00.html "Report: German Bank Helped Build Auschwitz"]. Deutsche Welle.</ref> The bank was closely involved in the [[German-occupied Europe|occupation of Europe]], "essentially acting as the bank of the SS in Poland".<ref name="hitlersbankers"/>
Dresdner Bank helped to finance concentration camps, including [[Auschwitz]].<ref>[http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1865973,00.html "Report: German Bank Helped Build Auschwitz"]. Deutsche Welle.</ref> The bank was closely involved in the [[German-occupied Europe|occupation of Europe]], "essentially acting as the bank of the SS in Poland".<ref name="hitlersbankers"/>
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==1945-2002==
==1945-2002==
[[File:Dresdner-bank logo 1966.jpg|thumb|Dresdner Bank logo on a branch in [[Cologne]], 1965]]
[[File:Dresdner-bank logo 1966.jpg|thumb|Dresdner Bank logo on a branch in [[Cologne]], 1965]]
[[File:Frankfurt Silver Tower.20130616.jpg|thumb|The 1978 [[Silberturm]] was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank]]
[[File:Frankfurt Silver Tower.20130616.jpg|thumb|The 1978 [[Silberturm]] was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank.]]
[[File:Frankfurt Am Main-Gallileo von Nordosten-20120115.jpg|thumb|The [[Gallileo (skyscraper)|Gallileo building]] in Frankfurt, completed in 2003, was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank until the 2009 merger]]
[[File:Frankfurt Am Main-Gallileo von Nordosten-20120115.jpg|thumb|The [[Gallileo (skyscraper)|Gallileo building]] in Frankfurt, completed in 2003, was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank until the 2009 merger.]]


Following the [[end of World War II in Europe]], the chairman of the bank's supervisory board, {{ill|Carl Goetz (banker){{!}}Carl Goetz|de|Carl Goetz (Bankmanager)}}, was arrested by the American occupation forces and held in custody until late 1947. [[Karl Rasche]], the bank's former chief executive ({{langx|de|Vorstandssprecher }}) since 1942, was [[Nuremberg trials|tried at Nuremberg]] and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.<ref name=Ahrens>{{citation |url=https://ebha.org/ebha2005/pdf%20papers/Ahrens.pdf |title=Cleansing Corporate History as Constructing Corporate Identity: The Case of Dresdner Bank after World War II |author=Ralf Ahrens |publisher=European Business History Association |year=2005}}</ref> The [[Deutsche Orientbank]], Dresdner Bank's Turkish subsidiary, was liquidated in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |website=Deutsche Vertretungen in der Türkei |title=Die Deutsche Orient-Bank |url=https://tuerkei.diplo.de/tr-de/vertretungen/generalkonsulat2/05-deutsche-orientbank/1563510 }}</ref>
Following the [[end of World War II in Europe]], the chairman of the bank's supervisory board, {{ill|Carl Goetz (banker){{!}}Carl Goetz|de|Carl Goetz (Bankmanager)}}, was arrested by the American occupation forces and held in custody until late 1947. [[Karl Rasche]], the bank's former chief executive ({{langx|de|Vorstandssprecher}}) since 1942, was [[Nuremberg trials|tried at Nuremberg]] and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.<ref name=Ahrens>{{citation |url=https://ebha.org/ebha2005/pdf%20papers/Ahrens.pdf |title=Cleansing Corporate History as Constructing Corporate Identity: The Case of Dresdner Bank after World War II |author=Ralf Ahrens |publisher=European Business History Association |year=2005}}</ref> The [[Deutsche Orientbank]], Dresdner Bank's Turkish subsidiary, was liquidated in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |website=Deutsche Vertretungen in der Türkei |title=Die Deutsche Orient-Bank |url=https://tuerkei.diplo.de/tr-de/vertretungen/generalkonsulat2/05-deutsche-orientbank/1563510}}</ref>


On 30 July 1977 in [[Oberursel]] ([[Taunus]]), [[Jürgen Ponto]], the chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank, was shot in his home during an attempted kidnapping by the [[Red Army Faction|RAF]]. Ponto later died from his injuries.<ref>{{cite book | last = Winkler| first = Heinrich August | author-link = Heinrich August Winkler | title = Germany: 1933-1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gXflC2Ipo_QC&pg=PA318 | access-date = 13 September 2013 | year = 2007 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-926598-5 | page = 318 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Melzer | first = Patricia | title = 'Death in the Shape of a Young Girl': Feminist Responses to Media Representations of Women Terrorists during the 'German Autumn' of 1977 | journal = International Feminist Journal of Politics | date = 2009 | volume = 11 | issue= 1 | doi = 10.1080/14616740802567782| pages= 35–62| s2cid = 145187393 }}</ref><ref name="HTT">{{cite news | title = Red Roses from Roter Morgen | url = https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915254,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081215120146/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915254,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 15, 2008 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = 15 August 1977| access-date = 9 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Über Jürgen Ponto | url = https://www.commerzbank.de/de/juergen_ponto_stiftung/ueber_juergen_ponto/juergen_ponto.html | language = de | trans-title = About Jürgen Ponto | publisher = [[Commerzbank]] | access-date = 5 June 2018| date = 2017-07-24 }}</ref>
On 30 July 1977 in [[Oberursel]] ([[Taunus]]), [[Jürgen Ponto]], the chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank, was shot in his home during an attempted kidnapping by the [[Red Army Faction|RAF]]. Ponto later died from his injuries.<ref>{{cite book | last = Winkler| first = Heinrich August | author-link = Heinrich August Winkler | title = Germany: 1933-1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gXflC2Ipo_QC&pg=PA318 | access-date = 13 September 2013 | year = 2007 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-926598-5 | page = 318}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Melzer | first = Patricia | title = 'Death in the Shape of a Young Girl': Feminist Responses to Media Representations of Women Terrorists during the 'German Autumn' of 1977 | journal = International Feminist Journal of Politics | date = 2009 | volume = 11 | issue= 1 | doi = 10.1080/14616740802567782| pages= 35–62| s2cid = 145187393}}</ref><ref name="HTT">{{cite news | title = Red Roses from Roter Morgen | url = https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915254,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081215120146/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915254,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 15, 2008 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = 15 August 1977| access-date = 9 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Über Jürgen Ponto | url = https://www.commerzbank.de/de/juergen_ponto_stiftung/ueber_juergen_ponto/juergen_ponto.html | language = de | trans-title = About Jürgen Ponto | publisher = [[Commerzbank]] | access-date = 5 June 2018| date = 2017-07-24}}</ref>


Dresdner Bank expanded its network with acquisition and opening new offices not only in Europe but also in the United States, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. Dresdner Bank was the first to open its own office in former [[eastern Germany]] in Dresden on 2 January 1990. In the year 1991 the majority of the deposit-taking business (especially corporate and retail banking), as well as a number of branch buildings and locations, were taken from the [[Deutsche Kreditbank]] together with the [[Deutsche Bank]] in the course of the [[currency union]], and ran until 1993 under Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG<ref>North Data: [https://www.northdata.de/Dresdner+Bank+Kreditbank+AG,+Dresden/HRB+107 Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG]; 4. May 2025</ref> and Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG until 1994.<ref>North Data: [https://www.northdata.de/Deutsche+Bank-Kreditbank+AG+Zweigniederlassung+Leipzig,+Leipzig/HRB+1630 Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG]; 4. May 2025</ref>
Dresdner Bank expanded its network with acquisition and opening new offices not only in Europe but also in the United States, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. Dresdner Bank was the first to open its own office in former [[eastern Germany]] in Dresden on 2 January 1990. In the year 1991 the majority of the deposit-taking business (especially corporate and retail banking), as well as a number of branch buildings and locations, were taken from the [[Deutsche Kreditbank]] together with the [[Deutsche Bank]] in the course of the [[currency union]], and ran until 1993 under Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG<ref>North Data: [https://www.northdata.de/Dresdner+Bank+Kreditbank+AG,+Dresden/HRB+107 Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG]; 4. May 2025</ref> and Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG until 1994.<ref>North Data: [https://www.northdata.de/Deutsche+Bank-Kreditbank+AG+Zweigniederlassung+Leipzig,+Leipzig/HRB+1630 Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG]; 4. May 2025</ref>
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In 1999, Dresdner Bank and [[Banque Nationale de Paris]] (BNP) proposed a merger but [[Allianz]], a major shareholder of Dresdner Bank, opposed the merger. [[AXA]], a major shareholder in BNP, is a rival of Allianz.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/1999/09/09/europe/dresdner/ |title=BNP denies Dresdner tie: France's biggest bank says it's not holding merger talks with Germany's number three |work=[[CNN]] |date=September 9, 1999 |access-date=August 9, 2023}}</ref>
In 1999, Dresdner Bank and [[Banque Nationale de Paris]] (BNP) proposed a merger but [[Allianz]], a major shareholder of Dresdner Bank, opposed the merger. [[AXA]], a major shareholder in BNP, is a rival of Allianz.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/1999/09/09/europe/dresdner/ |title=BNP denies Dresdner tie: France's biggest bank says it's not holding merger talks with Germany's number three |work=[[CNN]] |date=September 9, 1999 |access-date=August 9, 2023}}</ref>
===Partnership with BNP===
Starting in 1988, Dresdner Bank explored a partnership with [[Banque Nationale de Paris]] which was favored by the latter's president René Thomas.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite web |website=BNP Paribas |date={{date|2025-1-7}} |url=https://histoire.bnpparibas/en/rene-thomas-man-of-intuition/ |title=René Thomas, man of intuition}}</ref> This materialized in the 1990s with the creation of several 50-50 [[joint venture]]s in the central and eastern European countries undergoing [[Post-communism|post-Communist]] transition: first in [[Hungary]] (1990), then in [[Czechoslovakia]] and [[Russia]] (1991), [[Poland]] (1994),<ref>{{cite web |website=BNP Paribas |url=https://www.bnpparibas.pl/en/english-info/bnp-paribas-group-in-poland |accessdate={{date|2025-9-11}} |title=BNP Paribas Group in Poland}}</ref> [[Bulgaria]] (1995), [[Croatia]] (1997),<ref>{{cite web |website=Les Échos |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/1997/12/bnp-et-dresdner-bank-une-filiale-commune-pour-europe-de-lest-825190 |date={{date|1997-12-2}} |author=Muriel Jasor |title=BNP et Dresdner Bank : une filiale commune pour Europe de l'Est}}</ref> and [[Romania]] (1998). The Russian joint venture supported a Dresdner Bank branch in [[Saint Petersburg]] and had [[Matthias Warnig]], a former East German [[Stasi]] officer and associate of [[Vladimir Putin]], as its chairman.<ref name="PutinWarnigSPTimes"/><ref>{{cite web |website=Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project |author=Roman Shleynov |date={{date|2017-6-31}} |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/firm-linked-to-putin-friend-smoothed-path-for-bp-in-russia |title=Firm Linked to Putin Friend Smoothed Path for BP in Russia}}</ref> In late 1998, BNP and Dresdner Bank brought the joint ventures under a jointly owned holding company based in [[Vienna]], [[Austria]].<ref name=Jasor2>{{cite web |website=Les Échos |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/2000/08/bnp-paribas-dresdner-bank-divorce-a-lest-750640 |date={{date|2000-8-31}} |author=Muriel Jasor |title=BNP Paribas-Dresdner Bank : divorce à l'Est}}</ref> Beyond these regional initiatives, BNP and Dresdner in 1996 signed a broader partnership,<ref name=termination/> which led analysts in the late 1990s to anticipate closer integration between the two institutions.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/aug/29/observerbusiness.theobserver |author=Paul Farrelly |date={{date|1999-9-29}} |newspaper=The Observer |title=Dresdner and BNP to forge superbank}}</ref>
The partnership, which had never been as popular in France as in Germany,<ref name=Thomas/> was unwound in the wake of the merger between BNP and [[Paribas]] in 1999-2000. In August 2000, Greece's [[Egnatia Bank]] acquired the Romanian joint venture.<ref name=Jasor2/> Dresdner and the newly formed [[BNP Paribas]] then divided the other joint-venture banks between themselves: BNP Paribas bought out Dresdner in Bulgaria (with 20 percent still owned by the [[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]]), Hungary, and Poland, whereas Dresdner bought out BNP Paribas in Croatia, Czechia, and Russia.<ref>{{cite web |website=BNP Paribas |url=https://group.bnpparibas/communique-de-presse/bnp-paribas-dresdner-bank-redeffinissent-accords-joint-ventures-europe-centrale-orientale |date={{date|2020-12-22}} |title=BNP Paribas et Dresdner Bank redéfinissent leurs accords de joint-ventures en Europe Centrale et Orientale}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB977469553598360551 |title=BNP-Paribas, Dresdner Will Split Up Their Eastern Europe Joint Ventures |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=22 December 2000 |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221001193539/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB977469553598360551}}</ref> In October 2002, the two banks amicably terminated their broader partnership agreement of 1996.<ref name=termination>{{cite web |website=BNP Paribas |url=https://group.bnpparibas/en/press-release/cooperation-agreement-bnp-paribas-dresdner-bank-terminated |date={{date|2002-10-2}} |title=Cooperation agreement between BNP Paribas and Dresdner Bank terminated}}</ref>
The former joint ventures met various fates. BNP Paribas expanded significantly in Poland with the acquisition of [[BGZ Bank]] in 2015, and retained a comparatively smaller-scale activity in both Bulgaria<ref>{{cite web |website=Kapital Insights |url=https://kinsights.capital.bg/banks_and_finance/2024/11/14/4699295_30_years_of_bnp_paribas_in_bulgaria_a_journey_of/ |date={{date|2024-11-10}} |title=30 years of BNP Paribas in Bulgaria: A Journey of Growth and Innovation}}</ref> and Hungary, where it ranked 19th in the country by assets by end-2023.<ref>{{cite web |website=TheBanks.eu |title=BNP Paribas Magyarországi Fióktelepe |url=https://thebanks.eu/banks/14709 |accessdate={{date|2025-9-15}} |author=Anna Mileiko}}</ref> Dresdner sold its Croatian subsidiary to [[Zagrebačka banka]] in 2005,<ref>{{cite web |website=Croatian National Bank |date={{date|2005-5-11}} |url=https://www.hnb.hr/en/-/three-approvals-granted-to-new-bank-owners |title=Three approvals granted to new bank owners}}</ref> then was itself acquired by [[Commerzbank]] in 2008-2009, which merged the two respective Russian subsidiaries in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |website=commerzbank.ru |accessdate={{date|2025-9-15}} |url=https://www.commerzbank.ru/portal/en/cb/ru/firmenkunden/our_presence_your_benefits_ru.html |title=Our presence, your benefits}}</ref> Following the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in 2022, Commerzbank sharply reduced its exposure in the country,<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Bloomberg |url=https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/commerzbank-cut-russia-exposure-by-a-third-as-it-winds-down-unit |title=Commerzbank Cut Russia Risk as It Winds Down in Country |date={{date|2022-3-16}} |author=Nicholas Comfort & Steven Arons}}</ref> stopped servicing payments in Russia in 2023,<ref>{{cite web |website=The Odessa Journal |url=https://odessa-journal.com/one-of-the-largest-banks-in-germany-commerzbank-stopped-servicing-payments-to-russia |date={{date|2023-3-9}} |title=One of the largest banks in Germany Commerzbank stopped servicing payments to Russia}}</ref> and by 2025 was still reducing its legacy operations there.<ref>{{cite web |website=Agenzia Nova |url=https://www.agenzianova.com/en/news/commerzbank-to-continue-exiting-russian-market-even-in-case-of-ceasefire/ |date={{date|2025-3-19}} |title=Commerzbank to continue exiting Russian market even in case of ceasefire}}</ref> As of 2025, Commerzbank retained the former Dresdner Bank's presence in Czechia.<ref>{{cite web |website=commerzbank.cz |accessdate={{date|2025-9-15}} |url=https://www.commerzbank.cz/portal/en/cb/cz/firmenkunden/our_presence_your_benefits_cz.html |title=Our presence, your benefits}}</ref> The former Romanian joint venture undertook several cycles of restructuring by which it was successively renamed Egnatia Bank Romania (2001) then Marfin Bank Romania (2008), and has been known as {{ill|Vista Bank (Romania){{!}}Vista Bank|ro|Vista Bank (România)}} since 2019.<ref>{{cite web |website=Vista Bank |accessdate={{date|2025-9-15}} |url=https://www.vistabank.ro/en/about-us |title=About us}}</ref>


==Takeover by Allianz==
==Takeover by Allianz==
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In 2009, [[Deutsche Bank]] announced it will integrate the Dresdner Agency Security Lending business into its trust and securities services (TSS) business in global transaction banking (GTB).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deutsche Bank to Acquire Dresdner Bank's Global Agency Securities Lending Business|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090513005866/en/Deutsche-Bank-Acquire-Dresdner-Bank%E2%80%99s-Global-Agency|date=2009-05-13|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref>
In 2009, [[Deutsche Bank]] announced it will integrate the Dresdner Agency Security Lending business into its trust and securities services (TSS) business in global transaction banking (GTB).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deutsche Bank to Acquire Dresdner Bank's Global Agency Securities Lending Business|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20090513005866/en/Deutsche-Bank-Acquire-Dresdner-Bank%E2%80%99s-Global-Agency|date=2009-05-13|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-27}}</ref>


Dresdner Bank attempted to get a banking operating license in [[Saint Petersburg]], where former [[KGB]] agent [[Vladimir Putin]] was in charge of foreign economic relations.{{efn|[[Lazar Matveev]] served as a senior KGB liaison officer to the Stasi in Dresden, East Germany, during 1982 to 1989, and was the boss of Vladimir Putin and his former KGB colleagues [[Sergey Chemezov]] and [[Nikolay Tokarev]].<ref>Politike.ru | Лазарь Матвеев | http://politike.ru/termin/matveev-lazar-lazarevich.html</ref>}} Dresdner Bank appointed [[Matthias Warnig]], a former [[Stasi]] agent and Vladimir Putin's former KGB contact,<ref name=Kleptocracy>{{cite book | last = Dawisha | first = Karen | author-link = Karen Dawisha | title = Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1476795207 | year = 2014 | publisher = [[Simon & Schuster]] | pages = 51–6 | isbn = 978-1-4767-9519-5}}</ref><ref name=PutinWarnigSPTimes>{{cite news | title = Report Links Putin to Dresdner | url = https://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858 | newspaper = [[The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)|The St. Petersburg Times]] | date = March 1, 2005 | access-date = June 15, 2012 | archive-date = June 13, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080613001602/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Nölting | first1 = Andreas | last2 = Stuhr | first2 = Arne | title = Der Präsident, die Stasi und der Banker | trans-title = The president, the Stasi and the banker | url = https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-343332.html | work = [[Manager Magazin]] | date = February 23, 2005 | access-date = January 13, 2018 | archive-date = February 12, 2021 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20210212041150/https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-343332.html | language = de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Chazan | first1 = Guy | last2 = Crawford | first2 = David | title = In From the Cold: A Friendship Forged in Spying Pays Dividends in Russia Today: Top Dresdner Banker's Ties to Putin Go Back to Days When They Were Agents | newspaper = [[The Wall Street Journal]] | url = http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg05397.html | date = February 23, 2005 | access-date = January 13, 2018 | archive-date = September 24, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163254/http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg05397.html | quote = Archive is in Russian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inopressa.ru/wsj/2005/02/23/16:17:34/dresner |title=Inopressa: Дружба, скрепленная шпионажем, сегодня приносит дивиденды в России |date=February 23, 2005 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050223212249/https://www.inopressa.ru/wsj/2005/02/23/16:17:34/dresner |archive-date=23 February 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.compromat.ru/page_16286.htm|title=Маттиас Варниг - старый друг Путина // The Wall Street Journal: Глава российского отделения Dresdner Bank, занимавшегося оценкой Юганскнефтегаза - агент Штази, завербованный Путиным в Дрездене |website=www.compromat.ru|date=25 February 2024 }}</ref><ref name=Macrakis>{{cite book | last = Macrakis | first = Kristie | title = Seduced by Secrets Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0521887472 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/seducedbysecrets00macr }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Franchetti | first = Mark | title = Young Putin's Spy Disaster | url = https://groupsgoogle.com/forum/#!msg/alt.current-events.russia/q4Bt_9UbMcY/HpxpyXiVmEQJ | newspaper = [[The Sunday Times]] | date = March 19, 2000 | access-date = January 13, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Pietsch | first = Irene | title = Heikle Freundschaftgen: Mit den Putins Russland erleben | language = German | trans-title = Delicate Friendships: Experiences with the Putins Russia | location = Vienna | publisher = [[Styria Media Group|Molden Verlag]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-3854850595}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Питч | first1 = Ирен (Pitch, Iren) | first2 = И. |last2=Алексеевой | last3 = Л.Есаковой | last4 = Р.Эйвадиса)| title = Пикантная дружба: Моя подруга Людмила Путина, товарищ | language = Russian | trans-title = The Spicey Friendship: My Friend Lyudmila Putina, Her Family and Dear Companion | url = https://www.zakharov.ru/knigi/katalog/pikantnaya-druzhba-moya-podruga-lyudmila-putina.html | location = Moscow | publisher = [[Zakharov Books|Zakharov]] | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-5815901810}}</ref>{{efn|Vladimir Putin, KGB, recruited Mathias Warnig, Stasi, because the Stasi had West German spies and the KGB wanted to develop its own spy network in West Germany by recruiting Stasi West German spies into the KGB.<ref name=Kleptocracy/>}} to negotiate with Putin. The office was opened in 1991.<ref name=PutinWarnigSPTimes/><ref name=Macrakis/>{{efn|In 1990, [[:fr:Banque nationale de Paris|Banque nationale de Paris (BNP)]] entered into an alliance with Dresdner Bank.<ref name=PutinWarnigSPTimes/> This alliance to enter the Eastern European markets continued until December 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB977469553598360551 |title=BNP-Paribas, Dresdner Will Split Up Their Eastern Europe Joint Ventures |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=December 22, 2000 |access-date=August 9, 2023 |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221001193539/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB977469553598360551}}</ref>}} Warnig became chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian subsidiary which was located in the massive [[Embassy of Germany, Saint Petersburg|former German embassy]] on [[St. Isaac's Square]] and was a joint venture with [[:fr:Banque nationale de Paris|Banque nationale de Paris (BNP)]].<ref name=PutinWarnigSPTimes/>
Dresdner Bank attempted to get a banking operating license in [[Saint Petersburg]], where former [[KGB]] agent [[Vladimir Putin]] was in charge of foreign economic relations.{{efn|[[Lazar Matveev]] served as a senior KGB liaison officer to the Stasi in Dresden, East Germany, during 1982 to 1989, and was the boss of Vladimir Putin and his former KGB colleagues [[Sergey Chemezov]] and [[Nikolay Tokarev]].<ref>Politike.ru | Лазарь Матвеев | http://politike.ru/termin/matveev-lazar-lazarevich.html</ref>}} Dresdner Bank appointed [[Matthias Warnig]], a former [[Stasi]] agent and Vladimir Putin's former KGB contact,<ref name=Kleptocracy>{{cite book | last = Dawisha | first = Karen | author-link = Karen Dawisha | title = Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1476795207 | year = 2014 | publisher = [[Simon & Schuster]] | pages = 51–6 | isbn = 978-1-4767-9519-5}}</ref><ref name="PutinWarnigSPTimes">{{cite news |title=Report Links Putin to Dresdner |url=https://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858 |newspaper=[[The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)|The St. Petersburg Times]] |date=2005-03-01 |access-date=2012-06-15 |archive-date=2008-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613001602/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=2858}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Nölting | first1 = Andreas | last2 = Stuhr | first2 = Arne | title = Der Präsident, die Stasi und der Banker | trans-title = The president, the Stasi and the banker | url = https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-343332.html | work = [[Manager Magazin]] | date = February 23, 2005 | access-date = January 13, 2018 | archive-date = February 12, 2021 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20210212041150/https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/artikel/a-343332.html | language = de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Chazan | first1 = Guy | last2 = Crawford | first2 = David | title = In From the Cold: A Friendship Forged in Spying Pays Dividends in Russia Today: Top Dresdner Banker's Ties to Putin Go Back to Days When They Were Agents | newspaper = [[The Wall Street Journal]] | url = http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg05397.html | date = February 23, 2005 | access-date = January 13, 2018 | archive-date = September 24, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163254/http://www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoogroups.com/msg05397.html | quote = Archive is in Russian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inopressa.ru/wsj/2005/02/23/16:17:34/dresner |title=Inopressa: Дружба, скрепленная шпионажем, сегодня приносит дивиденды в России |date=February 23, 2005 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050223212249/https://www.inopressa.ru/wsj/2005/02/23/16:17:34/dresner |archive-date=23 February 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.compromat.ru/page_16286.htm|title=Маттиас Варниг - старый друг Путина // The Wall Street Journal: Глава российского отделения Dresdner Bank, занимавшегося оценкой Юганскнефтегаза - агент Штази, завербованный Путиным в Дрездене |website=www.compromat.ru|date=25 February 2024}}</ref><ref name=Macrakis>{{cite book | last = Macrakis | first = Kristie | title = Seduced by Secrets Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0521887472 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/seducedbysecrets00macr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Franchetti | first = Mark | title = Young Putin's Spy Disaster | url = https://groupsgoogle.com/forum/#!msg/alt.current-events.russia/q4Bt_9UbMcY/HpxpyXiVmEQJ | newspaper = [[The Sunday Times]] | date = March 19, 2000 | access-date = January 13, 2018}} {{dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Pietsch | first = Irene | title = Heikle Freundschaftgen: Mit den Putins Russland erleben | language = German | trans-title = Delicate Friendships: Experiences with the Putins Russia | location = Vienna | publisher = [[Styria Media Group|Molden Verlag]] | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-3854850595}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Питч | first1 = Ирен (Pitch, Iren) | first2 = И. |last2=Алексеевой | last3 = Л.Есаковой | last4 = Р.Эйвадиса)| title = Пикантная дружба: Моя подруга Людмила Путина, товарищ | language = Russian | trans-title = The Spicey Friendship: My Friend Lyudmila Putina, Her Family and Dear Companion | url = https://www.zakharov.ru/knigi/katalog/pikantnaya-druzhba-moya-podruga-lyudmila-putina.html | location = Moscow | publisher = [[Zakharov Books|Zakharov]] | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-5815901810}}</ref>{{efn|Vladimir Putin, KGB, recruited Mathias Warnig, Stasi, because the Stasi had West German spies and the KGB wanted to develop its own spy network in West Germany by recruiting Stasi West German spies into the KGB.<ref name=Kleptocracy/>}} to negotiate with Putin. The office was opened in 1991.<ref name="PutinWarnigSPTimes"/><ref name=Macrakis/>{{efn|In 1990, [[:fr:Banque nationale de Paris|Banque nationale de Paris (BNP)]] entered into an alliance with Dresdner Bank.<ref name="PutinWarnigSPTimes"/> This alliance to enter the Eastern European markets continued until December 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB977469553598360551 |title=BNP-Paribas, Dresdner Will Split Up Their Eastern Europe Joint Ventures |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=December 22, 2000 |access-date=August 9, 2023 |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20221001193539/https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/SB977469553598360551}}</ref>}} Warnig became chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian subsidiary which was located in the massive [[Embassy of Germany, Saint Petersburg|former German embassy]] on [[St. Isaac's Square]] and was a joint venture with [[:fr:Banque nationale de Paris|Banque nationale de Paris (BNP)]].<ref name="PutinWarnigSPTimes"/>


The bank has had a lucrative business relationship with [[Gazprom]] and the state oil company [[Rosneft]]. The bank advised on the forced sale of [[Yukos]] assets.<ref name="kupchinsky">{{cite news |last=Kupchinsky |first=Roman |author-link= Roman Kupchinsky |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35128 |title=Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby |work=[[Jamestown Foundation|Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume]]: 6 Issue: 114 |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=1 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407042027/https://jamestown.org/program/nord-stream-matthias-warnig-codename-arthur-and-the-gazprom-lobby/ |archive-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>
The bank has had a lucrative business relationship with [[Gazprom]] and the state oil company [[Rosneft]]. The bank advised on the forced sale of [[Yukos]] assets.<ref name="kupchinsky">{{cite news |last=Kupchinsky |first=Roman |author-link= Roman Kupchinsky |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35128 |title=Nord Stream, Matthias Warnig (codename "Arthur") and the Gazprom Lobby |work=[[Jamestown Foundation|Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume]]: 6 Issue: 114 |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=1 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407042027/https://jamestown.org/program/nord-stream-matthias-warnig-codename-arthur-and-the-gazprom-lobby/ |archive-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>
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* [[Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt]]
* [[Allgemeine Deutsche Credit-Anstalt]]
* [[Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service]]
* [[Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service]]
* [[The Holocaust]]
* [[Nuremberg Laws]]
* [[Anti-Jewish legislation in pre-war Nazi Germany]]
* [[Anti-Jewish legislation in pre-war Nazi Germany]]
* [[Jakob Goldschmidt]]
* [[Jakob Goldschmidt]]
* [[List of banks in Germany]]


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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{{Portal|Banks}}
{{Portal|Banks}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official|http://www.dresdner-bank.com }}
* {{Official|http://www.dresdner-bank.com}}
* [http://www.dresdner-bank.com/Dresdner-Bank/Facts-Figures/history/timeline/index.html History - Timeline]
* [http://www.dresdner-bank.com/Dresdner-Bank/Facts-Figures/history/timeline/index.html History - Timeline]
* [http://www.allianz.com Allianz Group corporate website]
* [http://www.allianz.com Allianz Group corporate website]

Latest revision as of 16:28, 16 December 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Dresdner Bank AG (Script error: No such module "IPA".) 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 acquired by Commerzbank in May 2009.

1872-1933

File:Max Liebermann Portrait Eugen Gutmann.jpg
Eugen Gutmann (1840–1925), founder of Dresdner Bank, 1907 portrait by Max Liebermann

The Dresdner Bank was established on 12 November 1872 through the conversion of Template:Ill, a Dresden-based private bank founded in 1771, on the advice of banker Eugen Gutmann. The bank's founding consortium of investors consisted of Template:Ill (Leipzig), Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft (Berlin), Template:Ill (Frankfurt), Template:Ill (Frankfurt) and Template:Ill (Hamburg), with an initial capital of 8 million Thalers (24 million Marks) and 30 employees in Wilsdruffer Strasse in Dresden. Gutmann became chairman of the new entity's board and led it until his retirement in 1920.

In the 1870s, the Dresdner Bank acquired smaller regional institutes and several banks. In 1881, it opened a branch in Berlin, whose activity quickly exceeded the nominal head office in Dresden. Therefore, the registered office moved to Berlin in 1884, while the place of jurisdiction remained in Dresden until 1950.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In 1889, together with Deutsche Bank and others, the Dresdner Bank participated in the creation of Deutsch-Asiatische Bank in Shanghai, and in 1894 of Banca Commerciale Italiana in Milan.Template:R It also developed its own overseas-oriented network by opening branches in Hamburg (1892, when it absorbed the Anglo-Deutsche Bank), Bremen (1895), and London (1901).Template:R

In 1905 Dresdner formed a close alliance with J. P. Morgan & Co. of New York, for joint action in international finance and issue operations, particularly the absorption of American securities by German investors. Operations in the orient and South America were carried on jointly in cooperation with the A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bankverein,[1] including the establishment in 1905 of Deutsche Orientbank which also involved the Nationalbank für Deutschland.Template:R

By end-1908, Dresdner Bank was the second-largest German joint-stock bank by total deposits, with a total of 225 million Marks surpassed only by Deutsche Bank (489 million) and well ahead of Disconto-Gesellschaft (219 million) and Darmstädter Bank (109 million).[2]Template:Rp At that time, Dresdner Bank was referred to as one of the four "D-Banks" (all of which had names starting with a D) that dominated German commercial banking, together with Darmstädter Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Disconto-Gesellschaft.[3]Template:Rp

During the First World War, the London branch was forced to close; however, the branch network itself expanded.

By 1930, Dresdner Bank was Germany's third-largest joint-stock bank by total deposits with 2.3 billion Reichsmarks, behind Deutsche Bank und Disconto-Gesellschaft (4.8 billion) and Danat-Bank (2.4 billion), and ahead of Commerz- und Privatbank (1.5 billion), Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft (619 million), and Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft (412 million).[4]Template:Rp

As a consequence of state intervention during the banking crisis of 1931, the German Reich owned 66% and Deutsche Golddiskontbank owned 22% of Dresdner Bank shares; the total government stake in Dresdner Bank reached 97 percent, and (unlike at Deutsche Bank) resulted in significant interference in the bank's management.[5]Template:Rp As part of the same restructuring, Dresdner Bank acquired full ownership of the former Danat-Bank, of Mercurbank in Vienna,[6]Template:Rp and of Deutsche Orientbank in Istanbul. Its deputy director was Hjalmar Schacht, soon-to-be Minister of Economy under Nazism.

1933-1945

Following Adolf Hitler's assumption of power in 1933, the Dresdner Bank, which had been founded by a Jewish banker, Eugen Gutmann, fired all 600 Jewish employees, including board members as well as bank clerks, and cancelled or confiscated their pensions. In May of 1933, "Nazi brownshirts swarmed into the lobby of the Dresdner headquarters and smashed the bronze bust of Eugen to the ground." The bank was declared "Judenrein' ("cleansed" of Jews) and became a tool of Hitler's Nazi regime.[7]

The "Aryanized" bank fully participated in the Nazi regime's aryanization of Jewish businesses and became known as the bank of choice for Heinrich Himmler's SS.[8] As with other banks that had been nationalized to various degrees in 1931, Dresdner Bank was reprivatised in stages in 1936-1937.Template:R

After the Nazi Anschluss in 1938, Dresdner Bank on 15 June 1938 acquired ownership of Vienna-based Länderbank through its local subsidiary the Mercurbank, in a transaction forced under duress.[9] The Prague-based Živnostenská Banka's Austrian subsidiary was simultaneously subsumed in the merged entity, renamed Script error: No such module "Lang".. The new Länderbank had 33 branch offices in Vienna (36 after acquisition of the Austrian business of Script error: No such module "Lang". in 1939), in comparison to 24 for the rival Creditanstalt-Bankverein that had come under control of Deutsche Bank.

Later in 1938 following the Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland, Dresdner Bank, through Script error: No such module "Lang"., took over the former branches of the Böhmische Escompte-Bank in the South Moravian towns of Břeclav (Template:Langx), Mikulov (Template:Langx) and Znojmo (Template:Langx).[10] In subsequent years, most of the Länderbank's resources were used to finance the Nazi war effort,[11] while in March 1939, Dresdner Bank acquired control of Böhmische Escompte-Bank.

During World War II, Dresdner Bank took over the Böhmische Escompte-Bank in Prague, the Societatea Bancară Română in Bucharest, the Handels- und Kreditbank in Riga, and the Kontinentale Bank in Brussels. It also maintained majority control of the Kommerzialbank in Kraków, Deutsche Handels- und Kreditbank in Bratislava, Banque Bulgare de Commerce in Sofia, and founded the Handelstrust West N. V. in Amsterdam.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Following the invasion of Yugoslavia and proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia, Dresdner Bank took a 53 percent stake in Jugoslavenska Banka, renamed Script error: No such module "Lang". by court order of 3 June 1941.[12]Template:Rp Also in 1941, Dresdner Bank took over management control of the Bank of Athens during the Axis occupation of Greece, without however taking ownership out of consideration for Italian sensitivities.[13] In September 1941, Dresdner Bank appropriated a block of shares owned by Union Européenne Industrielle et Financière, an affiliate of the French Schneider-Creusot group, in the Hungarian General Credit Bank.[14]Template:Rp

Dresdner Bank helped to finance concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[15] The bank was closely involved in the occupation of Europe, "essentially acting as the bank of the SS in Poland".[8]

As a result of World War II 80% of the bank's buildings were destroyed, costing the bank 162 offices in 56 locations.

1945-2002

File:Dresdner-bank logo 1966.jpg
Dresdner Bank logo on a branch in Cologne, 1965
File:Frankfurt Silver Tower.20130616.jpg
The 1978 Silberturm was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank.
File:Frankfurt Am Main-Gallileo von Nordosten-20120115.jpg
The Gallileo building in Frankfurt, completed in 2003, was part of the head office of Dresdner Bank until the 2009 merger.

Following the end of World War II in Europe, the chairman of the bank's supervisory board, Template:Ill, was arrested by the American occupation forces and held in custody until late 1947. Karl Rasche, the bank's former chief executive (Template:Langx) since 1942, was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.[16] The Deutsche Orientbank, Dresdner Bank's Turkish subsidiary, was liquidated in 1946.[17]

On 30 July 1977 in Oberursel (Taunus), Jürgen Ponto, the chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank, was shot in his home during an attempted kidnapping by the RAF. Ponto later died from his injuries.[18][19][20][21]

Dresdner Bank expanded its network with acquisition and opening new offices not only in Europe but also in the United States, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. Dresdner Bank was the first to open its own office in former eastern Germany in Dresden on 2 January 1990. In the year 1991 the majority of the deposit-taking business (especially corporate and retail banking), as well as a number of branch buildings and locations, were taken from the Deutsche Kreditbank together with the Deutsche Bank in the course of the currency union, and ran until 1993 under Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG[22] and Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG until 1994.[23]

After the acquisition of Kleinwort Benson in 1995 to form its investment-banking arm Dresdner Kleinwort, Dresdner Bank took over the American investment bank Wasserstein Perella Group Inc., New York in 2000. This investment banking unit was then renamed Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

In 1999, Dresdner Bank and Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) proposed a merger but Allianz, a major shareholder of Dresdner Bank, opposed the merger. AXA, a major shareholder in BNP, is a rival of Allianz.[24]

Partnership with BNP

Starting in 1988, Dresdner Bank explored a partnership with Banque Nationale de Paris which was favored by the latter's president René Thomas.[25] This materialized in the 1990s with the creation of several 50-50 joint ventures in the central and eastern European countries undergoing post-Communist transition: first in Hungary (1990), then in Czechoslovakia and Russia (1991), Poland (1994),[26] Bulgaria (1995), Croatia (1997),[27] and Romania (1998). The Russian joint venture supported a Dresdner Bank branch in Saint Petersburg and had Matthias Warnig, a former East German Stasi officer and associate of Vladimir Putin, as its chairman.[28][29] In late 1998, BNP and Dresdner Bank brought the joint ventures under a jointly owned holding company based in Vienna, Austria.[30] Beyond these regional initiatives, BNP and Dresdner in 1996 signed a broader partnership,[31] which led analysts in the late 1990s to anticipate closer integration between the two institutions.[32]

The partnership, which had never been as popular in France as in Germany,[25] was unwound in the wake of the merger between BNP and Paribas in 1999-2000. In August 2000, Greece's Egnatia Bank acquired the Romanian joint venture.[30] Dresdner and the newly formed BNP Paribas then divided the other joint-venture banks between themselves: BNP Paribas bought out Dresdner in Bulgaria (with 20 percent still owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), Hungary, and Poland, whereas Dresdner bought out BNP Paribas in Croatia, Czechia, and Russia.[33][34] In October 2002, the two banks amicably terminated their broader partnership agreement of 1996.[31]

The former joint ventures met various fates. BNP Paribas expanded significantly in Poland with the acquisition of BGZ Bank in 2015, and retained a comparatively smaller-scale activity in both Bulgaria[35] and Hungary, where it ranked 19th in the country by assets by end-2023.[36] Dresdner sold its Croatian subsidiary to Zagrebačka banka in 2005,[37] then was itself acquired by Commerzbank in 2008-2009, which merged the two respective Russian subsidiaries in 2010.[38] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Commerzbank sharply reduced its exposure in the country,[39] stopped servicing payments in Russia in 2023,[40] and by 2025 was still reducing its legacy operations there.[41] As of 2025, Commerzbank retained the former Dresdner Bank's presence in Czechia.[42] The former Romanian joint venture undertook several cycles of restructuring by which it was successively renamed Egnatia Bank Romania (2001) then Marfin Bank Romania (2008), and has been known as Template:Ill since 2019.[43]

Takeover by Allianz

In 2002 Dresdner Bank became a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance corporation Allianz. In July 2006 Dresdner Kleinwort, dropped Wasserstein from their name and went through a re-organization of corporate bank, capital markets and investment bank. The arm made up of capital markets and investment banking.

In 2008 it was reported that Allianz was looking to dispose of Dresdner Bank. British banking group Lloyds TSB were amongst those rumoured to be interested. However, by July that year Lloyds TSB had denied any interest in making a bid.

Takeover by Commerzbank

On August 31, 2008, Commerzbank announced that it would acquire Dresdner Bank for EUR 9.8 billion.[44] Dresdner Bank was legally merged with Commerzbank on 11 May 2009 and ceased to be an independent entity.[45]

In 2009, Deutsche Bank announced it will integrate the Dresdner Agency Security Lending business into its trust and securities services (TSS) business in global transaction banking (GTB).[46]

Dresdner Bank attempted to get a banking operating license in Saint Petersburg, where former KGB agent Vladimir Putin was in charge of foreign economic relations.Template:Efn Dresdner Bank appointed Matthias Warnig, a former Stasi agent and Vladimir Putin's former KGB contact,[47][28][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]Template:Efn to negotiate with Putin. The office was opened in 1991.[28][52]Template:Efn Warnig became chairman of the board of directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO, Dresdner Bank Russian subsidiary which was located in the massive former German embassy on St. Isaac's Square and was a joint venture with Banque nationale de Paris (BNP).[28]

The bank has had a lucrative business relationship with Gazprom and the state oil company Rosneft. The bank advised on the forced sale of Yukos assets.[56]

In 2017, Frankfurt prosecutors, together with federal crime police and tax officials, conducted searches of Commerzbank offices as well as the flats of three suspects in Frankfurt and nearby Hanau about a "tax evasion probe in which several current and former managers are suspected of evading 40 million euros ($47 million) in taxes via dividend stripping, also known as "cum-ex" transactions".[57] The investigation also extends to trades in 2008 at Dresdner Bank, which was taken over by Commerzbank in 2009.[57]

See also

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

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  1. ↑ Template:Americana
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ a b "Hitler's Willing Bankers". Spiegel Online International.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ "Report: German Bank Helped Build Auschwitz". Deutsche Welle.
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ North Data: Dresdner Bank Kreditbank AG; 4. May 2025
  23. ↑ North Data: Deutsche Bank Kreditbank AG; 4. May 2025
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Dresdner Bank Facts and Figures
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  52. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  53. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  55. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  56. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  57. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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