Carl Furstenberg

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Berlin memorial plaque on the house at Koenigsallee 53c-e in Berlin-Grunewald

Carl Fürstenberg (born August 28, 1850 in Danzig ; † February 9, 1933 in Berlin ) was a German-Jewish banker .

Life

Carl Fürstenberg completed a banking apprenticeship at the R. Damme bank in his hometown of Gdansk. After a short time at a West Prussian textile company, he moved to Berlin at the age of 18. There he reported to Disconto-Gesellschaft , the largest German public limited company at the time. He was left there for a year and finally hired in 1870. In the following year, the young banker moved to the renowned S. Bleichröder bank owned by Berlin aristocrat Gerson von Bleichröder . He stayed there until 1883 and even rose to the position of personally liable, managing partner of the bank, with whom he remained connected until his death.

In 1883 Fürstenberg was appointed "business owner" (personally liable managing partner) of the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft (BHG). Under his leadership, BHG became one of the leading German banks in corporate business. For more than half a century, Fürstenberg shaped the BHG so much that it was generally referred to as the “Fürstenberg Bank”. It played a major role in the expansion of the coal and steel industry in the Ruhr area ( Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG, Harpener Bergbau AG , Hibernia AG and others) and the north German shipyards. Fürstenberg acquired stakes in several industrial companies for BHG, including AEG and the railway construction and operating company Lenz & Co. ("Lenz-Bau"). He was a member of the supervisory board of the above and other companies. He also expanded the influence of the BHG by returning it to the Prussian consortium , from which it had temporarily left.

After the 1922 German-Russian Treaty of Rapallo , he was the first Western banker to enter into major credit connections with the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic . In 1931, Fürstenberg laid down the management of the BHG and changed to its presidium.

In 1884 Carl Fürstenberg joined the Society of Friends . He was friends with Emil Rathenau , Walther Rathenau , Albert Ballin , Maximilian Harden , Gerhart Hauptmann and Max Slevogt , who portrayed him.

family

Carl Fürstenberg's son Hans Fürstenberg joined the management of BHG in 1919. As a Jew, Hans Fürstenberg was persecuted during the National Socialist era and driven into emigration.

Commemoration

A Berlin commemorative plaque attached to the house at Koenigsallee  53 in Berlin-Grunewald in October 1989 commemorates local merits: Fürstenberg, who “lived in the house that used to stand here since 1898” and whose house was a popular social meeting place for artists, politicians and entrepreneurs, participated his bank "on the expansion of the Kurfürstendamm and the development of the villa district Grunewald".

Quotes

Carl Fürstenberg, who said: “The first thing in the banking business is to learn to respect zeros”, the now famous bon mots come from small shareholders: “Shareholders are stupid and cheeky. Stupid because they buy shares and cheeky because they still want a dividend "and" The net profit is that part of the balance sheet that the board of directors can no longer hide from the shareholders with the best of will. "

The realization "If the state goes bankrupt, of course not the state goes bankrupt, but the citizen" is also attributed to Fürstenberg.

literature

Web links

Commons : Carl Fürstenberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b (no longer available since August 1997)
  2. ↑ a b c d Erich Erlenbach: An anniversary in the year of the golden mean. The Berliner Handels- und Frankfurter Bank celebrates 25 years of its history . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of April 12, 1980, p. 17.
personal data
SURNAME Fürstenberg, Carl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Danzig
DATE OF DEATH February 9, 1933
Place of death Berlin