Deutsche Bank building complex
The building complex of Deutsche Bank in Berlin is under monument protection standing building complex in Berlin's district center , located about three blocks to the French road stretches. The three building complexes were each created for three different financial companies. They were subsequently taken over, expanded and revised by Deutsche Bank and formed the headquarters of the bank company until the end of World War II . In the postwar period , the heavily damaged buildings were rebuilt and then DDR institutions such as the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR used. After German reunification , the entire complex became the property of the Federal Republic of Germany , parts of which were used by various administrations after renovation. Some parts are empty. (As of end of 2019)
Banking history (overview)
Deutsche Bank, founded on March 10, 1870 in Berlin as a stock corporation (AG) by Adelbert Delbrück (1822–1890) and Ludwig Bamberger (1823–1899), had originally committed itself to financing German foreign trade. The first business premises were located at Französische Strasse 21 and Friedrichstrasse on the ground floor of an existing building and were opened in April of the same year. The building also housed a court bookshop and apartments. In the following year, 1871, the bank moved to larger premises at Burgstrasse 29.
After rapid economic success in connection with the establishment of the German Reich , the shareholders considered the construction of a representative building of their own to be necessary. They won over the architects Hermann Ende and Wilhelm Böckmann , according to whose plans the Deutsche Bank House in Mauerstraße was built from 1872 and opened in 1874.
After that, the bank company steadily expanded its real estate and business areas: in 1879, the Union Bank was added with its office building at Behrenstrasse 9/10.
Further mergers with financial institutions established in Berlin followed: in 1914 with Nordstern Insurance and on September 26, 1929 with Disconto-Gesellschaft .
In the time of National Socialism , the new rulers dismissed a number of well-earned Jewish bank employees at Deutsche Bank from 1933. Efforts to Aryanize Jewish property were financially and organizationally supported by Deutsche Bank.
On the night of November 22nd to 23rd, 1943, during the Second World War , several bombs damaged almost all Deutsche Bank buildings, some of which were burned out. Many archive documents were also destroyed because no arrangements had been made for evacuation.
After the end of the war and the division of Germany, the bankers relocated their place of business in 1946, initially from East to Berlin-Schöneberg , in West Berlin . From 1952, the bank in Frankfurt am Main completely reorganized itself and later had epoch-making new buildings erected, such as the 155 m high glass towers Soll and haben .
To date, the bank has developed into the largest German universal bank with a branch network in all German federal states and worldwide.
Building history
Block I.
The first Deutsche Bank administration building was located in Dorotheenstadt / Friedrichstadt , Karree Mauerstraße 28/29, Behrenstraße 2/33, Französische Straße 42/44 and Glinkastraße ( location )
The five-storey commercial building in Mauerstrasse (executed from 1872 to 1874 by the architects Ende & Böckmann ( Hermann Ende and Wilhelm Böckmann )) stood out for its structural monumentality on the ground floor, which was rustified . According to the client's wishes, it was reminiscent of Italian Renaissance palaces and demonstrated the importance of the bank.
By taking over the Unions-Bank in 1876 and the Berliner Bankverein , Deutsche Bank acquired the relevant buildings. Starting in 1883, she bought up the adjoining properties of the block in the direction of Glinkastrasse (then Kanonierstrasse ) and the southern block. From 1882 onwards, Deutsche Bank commissioned the architect Wilhelm Martens with the further design of its (new) headquarters. It began with a three-storey new building and a conversion of the building Französische Strasse 66/67. From 1896 to 1902, he extended the buildings to the eastern part of the block, removing the last baroque elements of the quarter. During this work, the architect adapted the façades of the existing buildings to his new building. From 1921 to 1922 Wilhelm Kimbel added a fourth floor to the whole complex.
The building housed three checkout rooms and head office departments. The main cash desk of the Deutsche Bank as well as its safe and the foreign exchange, securities and exchange departments were located on the ground floor.
In 1949 the architect Franz Ehrlich rebuilt the complex and its southern neighbor for the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR after the war damage. He used a different facade system.
Block II
After almost 30 years, the space in the first building was no longer sufficient for the bankers. Between 1908 and 1910, Wilhelm Martens had converted and expanded the building. The building tract Mauerstraße 25–28 (main front), Französische Straße, Glinkastraße and Jägerstraße ( location ) was created as building complex II or later as block II . It is a four-storey building with an almost square floor plan, which encloses two small inner courtyards and a natural stone-clad facade in the style of the Italian Baroque and free adaptation of historicizing elements and with echoes of Art Nouveau . A two-story safe was installed under the ticket hall .
Most of the block was taken up by the 75-by-28-meter checkout room. Daylight entered the marble-clad hall through an opal glass dome.
Connecting bridge
In 1910, blocks I and II were connected with two identical single-storey covered arch bridges across the Französische Straße, which were somewhat reminiscent of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. They are held on each side by two atlases , which symbolize the four elements water, fire, air and earth .
- Historic connecting bridge and facade details of the four elements
Connecting bridge between block I and II
Fire (block I)
Earth (block I)
Water (block II)
Air (block II)
Block II, also badly damaged at the end of the Second World War, was rebuilt in the 1950s under the direction of Franz Ehrlich , but with stricter, i.e. simplified, forms. One of the two bridges also had to be removed.
Block III
Parallel to the work on Block II, an administrative building for Nordstern life insurance was built in 1900/1901 along Mauerstraße 35-42 , planned and executed by the architects Kayser & von Großheim ( Heinrich Kayser and Karl von Großheim ). This is the third building block of the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Berlin. ( Location )
After Deutsche Bank took over the insurance in 1914, the architect Hans Jessen had the building rebuilt while retaining the original facade design. An extension at Mauerstraße 35-38, created by Jessen at the same time in 1901, has not been preserved.
The GDR also had the Nordstern building, which was heavily damaged at the end of 1943, rebuilt in a simplified manner under the direction of its architect Franz Ehrlich in the early 1950s. In contrast to the previous one, this building was a richly decorated four-storey commercial building in the neo-baroque style with a red sandstone facade. The preserved relief frieze on the north side is remarkable .
Like the other two complexes, this ensemble was damaged in the war and rebuilt in the 1950s using earlier parts of the facade.
Entire ensemble
During the Second World War, as shown above, all of the bank buildings mentioned were partially destroyed. The banking companies, especially the powerful Deutsche Bank, were expropriated after the end of the war or their business activities were banned by the Soviet city command. Around 1950 the GDR had the three building complexes rebuilt and rebuilt without any major adornments. They were needed again as an administration building. Until 1990 the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR was located in the three complexes on Mauerstraße until it was dissolved.
After German reunification in 1990, the property became the property of the federal government . He had everything completely renovated and partially rebuilt inside. Various federal authorities were found as users, including the Bundestag and the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety .
Instead of the second arch bridge, which was not rebuilt, a skywalk was created for those working in the buildings.
In the 21st century, Deutsche Bank is using a. a. their former office building on Unter den Linden 13.
Uses in the 21st century
Block I will be redesigned by the beginning of the 2020s in such a way that all 400 employees of the Federal Ministry of Health can be accommodated in it, who were previously spread over five different locations in the center. The conversion costs are given as more than 170 million euros .
At the same time, Block II will also be extensively renovated, but it has not yet been determined exactly which facility will move into it. So far (as of the beginning of 2020) it has only been called “further ministerial users” and a canteen is to be set up.
During construction in 2016, the complex provided almost 30 film motifs (corridors, lobbies, empty office space and basement) for the German crime - television series Babylon Berlin . This is where all the scenes inside the Red Castle , the basement rooms of Moka Efti , the printing works in Köpenick and the hotel rooms were created. The costume fund of the film production used other rooms.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ French street 21> Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft . In: Allgemeiner Wohnungs-Anzeiger together with address and business manual for Berlin , 1872, 1st part, p. 68.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Kathrin Chod, Herbert Schwenk, Hainer Weisspflug: Deutsche Bank . In: Hans-Jürgen Mende , Kurt Wernicke (ed.): Berliner Bezirkslexikon, Mitte . Luisenstadt educational association . Haude and Spener / Edition Luisenstadt, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-89542-111-1 ( luise-berlin.de - as of October 7, 2009).
- ^ Deutsche Bank Actiengesellschaft . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1875, II, S. 60 (Burgstrasse 29. In the same building, close to the Berlin Stock Exchange, the German-Belgian La Plata Bank and some apartments were.).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Maritta Tkalec: Deutsche Bank. The power in the middle . In: Berliner Zeitung , January 27, 2020, p. 10.
- ↑ German Union Bank . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1875, 2nd part, p. 259 (Mauerstrasse 30, 31 and Behrenstrasse 9, 10).
- ↑ Institute for Monument Preservation (Ed.): The architectural and art monuments of the GDR. Capital Berlin-II . Henschelverlag, Berlin 1984, p. 193, 218 .
- ^ Lothar Gall : The Deutsche Bank. 1870-1995. CH Beck-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-38945-7 , p. 133.
- ^ Mauerstrasse 29 and Mauerstrasse 30> New Deutsche Bank building . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1882, II, p. 259.
- ↑ a b c d Entry in the Berlin State Monument List
- ^ A b c Lothar Gall: The Deutsche Bank. 1870-1995. CH Beck-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-38945-7 , p. 134.
- ^ "Babylon Berlin" - location: Mauerstrasse - former Deutsche Bank. In: rbb24.de. Retrieved March 2, 2020 .
Coordinates: 52 ° 30 ′ 52 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 7 ″ E