Victoria (insurance company)
The Victoria insurance in Berlin was a major German insurance company and at times the largest German insurance. The company was incorporated into the Ergo Group .
history
Life insurance
Victoria Versicherungs AG was founded on September 26, 1853 as Allgemeine Eisenbahn-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft (AEVG), which operated transport, life, accident and fire insurance for rail traffic. In 1858, transport insurance was expanded to include land and waterways and in 1860, business was expanded to include life insurance.
In 1875 the company was renamed Victoria to Berlin Allgemeine Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft .
In the following years it became a pioneer in the field of so-called national insurance, particularly through the then General Director Otto Gerstenberg . About 4 million policies had been taken out by 1913. From 1899 to the First World War, Victoria was the largest German insurance company and the second largest European insurance company. As early as 1903, the insurance portfolio had exceeded the one billion mark.
In 1923, the subsidiary Victoria am Rhein Allgemeine Versicherungs-Actien-Gesellschaft was founded in Düsseldorf, which in 1956 merged with the parent company to form Victoria Lebens-Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft . After the merger of the parent company Victoria Holding with Hamburg-Mannheimer, the life insurance subsidiary initially appeared unchanged on the insurance market before ceasing new business in 2010 and concentrating on processing the existing insurance relationships. In autumn 2017, Ergo briefly sold the company to a processing specialist, but ultimately the mother abandoned the plans at the end of November that year.
Fire insurance
In 1904, the subsidiary Victoria Feuer-Versicherungs-Actien-Gesellschaft was founded in Berlin , with the fire, burglary and water damage divisions.
In 1923 the daughter Victoria am Rhein Feuer- und Transport-Versicherungs-Actien-Gesellschaft was founded (23 November) in Düsseldorf , and in 1948 the accident insurance portfolio was transferred from Victoria to Berlin to Victoria Feuer.
In 1956 the two companies merged to form Victoria Feuer-Versicherungs-Aktien-Gesellschaft . In 1989 this was renamed Victoria Versicherung AG .
Health insurance
In order to be able to offer health insurance as well, Victoria began a cooperation with Gilde-Versicherung AG, which was based in Düsseldorf, in 1971. At the beginning of the cooperation, Victoria acquired 10 percent of the share capital of the guild. When the shareholding had grown to 49 percent in 1977, Gilde-Versicherung AG was renamed Victoria-Gilde Krankenversicherung AG .
1998 saw the takeover of further shares (74.9 percent) and with it the takeover of Victoria-Gilde Krankenversicherung AG. At the end of the year it was renamed Victoria Krankenversicherung AG .
More branches
There were also subsidiaries, e. B. in the field of marine and reinsurance.
General directors / CEOs
| Term of office | Surname |
|---|---|
| 1853-1869 | Otto Crelinger |
| 1870-1888 | Gustav Hartmann |
| 1888-1912 | Otto Gerstenberg |
| 1913-1932 | Richard Utech (until 1917 with Paul Thon ) |
| 1932-1935 | Emil Herzfelder |
| 1935-1968 | Kurt Hamann |
| 1968-1982 | Heinz Schmöle |
| 1983–1998 (merger) | Edgar Jannott |
Ergo insurance group
The Ergo Versicherungsgruppe AG is finally the end of 1997 with the Hamburg-Mannheimer AG formed by the merger of Victoria Holding AG (Jan. 27, 1998: entry (in the commercial register Dusseldorf proportion of the Munich Reinsurance Company initially 54%) and relocation of Victoria companies from Berlin to Dusseldorf.)
literature
- Victoria Allgemeine Versicherungs Gesellschaft (ed.): Victoria Insurance 1853–1928 (commemorative publication on 75 years of Victoria Insurance), Berlin 1928.
- Kurt Hamann : One Hundred Years of Victoria Insurance: 1853–1953. Berlin 1953.
- Arno Surminski : In the train of times - The Victoria from 1853 to today , Düsseldorf 1978.
- That. In the train of the times. 150 years of VICTORIA. 1853–2003 , Victoria Insurance Companies, Düsseldorf, 1st edition, 2003, ISBN 3-000117679
- Victoria Newspaper
Web links
- Victoria and National Insurance
- Historical outline
- Early documents and newspaper articles on Victoria in the 20th Century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .