Nordstern (insurance)

Blackboard on a house in Niederdrees in 2010

Advertisement for Nordstern, Bozner Nachrichten 1906

Nordstern is a former German insurance company that is now part of the Axa .

history

In 1857 a sea ​​and river insurance "Nordstern" was founded in Hamburg .

The "Nordstern" Lebens-Versicherungs-Actien-Gesellschaft was founded in 1866 by Berlin bankers, including Franz Mendelssohn , Gerson von Bleichröder , F. W. Krause, M. Plaut and Eduard von der Heydt . Until 1872 it was based in the Mendelssohn Bank Jägerstrasse 52 building. From 1871 to 1901, the "Nordstern" was managed by Franz Gerkrath as General Director. After his death in 1901, his son Albrecht Gerkrath (1872–1909) succeeded him. Robert Hackelöer-Köbbinghoff took over the office from 1909 until his death in 1924. In 1924 Hans Riese became General Director.

During the German banking crisis in May 1931, the "Nordstern" got into trouble. On May 30, the insurance company announced a loss of 28 million Reichsmarks and loan cancellations increased. From 1931 to 1961 Edgar Schnell was general director of Nordstern Allgemeine Versicherung and from 1949 also Nordstern Leben. In addition to Berlin, Nordstern Allgemeine opened a second headquarters in Cologne , and Nordstern Leben then came to Cologne via Bremen. In the 1954 financial year, the total premium income was around 80 million D-Marks . In 1964, the total premium income was 224 million Deutschmarks. After the addition of the special reserves from the total surplus, the net profit in 1964 was 2.2 million Deutschmarks.

In 1995 it was bought by Colonia Insurance . The merger was then taken over by Axa .

Three listed administrative buildings in Berlin are reminiscent of the “Nordstern” insurance:

• the Nordsternhaus (1914) in Berlin-Schöneberg ,
• the later headquarters (1936) at Fehrbelliner Platz in Berlin-Wilmersdorf and
• Remnants of the facade of the Nordstern-Lebensversicherung building (1901) in Mauerstraße 36 in Berlin-Mitte .

Web links

Commons : North Star  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Early documents and newspaper articles on the Nordstern in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Staatsbibliothek PK, music department with Mendelssohn archive, MA 5, XII / II, 22.
2. ↑ The Carousel of Bankruptcies . In: Die Zeit , No. 15/1967.
3. ↑ The train to the west . In: Die Zeit , No. 34/1946.
4. ↑ The old Cologne is back! In: Die Zeit , No. 37/1950.
5. ↑ Nordstern optimistic . In: Die Zeit , No. 12, / 1955.
6. ↑ A short balance reading . In: Die Zeit , No. 27/1965.
7. ↑ History of AXA Germany
8. ↑ Nordsternplatz . In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
   Nordsternstrasse. In: Street name lexicon of the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein (near  Kaupert )