Wilhelm von Finck

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Wilhelm Finck around 1883

Wilhelm Peter Finck , from 1905 by Finck , (born February 6, 1848 in Vilbel , Hesse ; † April 8, 1924 in Munich ) was a German banker and co-founder a. a. the Allianz insurance company and the Munich Reinsurance Company . He contributed significantly to the expansion of the railway network and the hydropower plants in the German Empire .

family

The Finck family comes from Götzenhain , about 10 kilometers south of Frankfurt am Main . His grandfather Burckhard Finck originally lived in the Ziegenhain area . In 1790 Burckhard Finck founded the company Finck & Schäfer in Vilbel, with the resident Peter Schäfer, a wholesaler and retailer for spirits, oil, soap and colonial goods, cider, vinegar and brandy were also produced. Wilhelm Finck's grandmother comes from Frankfurt am Main, born Ludwig and niece of Finck's business partner Schäfer. They had two sons, Heinrich, the older brother, became a pastor. Wilhelm (I. * 1810), the younger brother, married Margarete in 1847, née Müller from Frankfurt-Nieder-Erlenbach . From this marriage there were three children. Wilhelm Finck (II. * 1848), August (* 1850) and Marie (* 1853).

Wilhelm Finck (II.) Married Marie, geb. Fäustle (* 1865) - a daughter of Johann Nepomuk von Fäustle . The couple had four children - Margarete (* 1891), married von Stengel , Wilhelm (III. 1893–1916), Elisabeth (* 1896), married Winterstein and August von Finck senior (1898–1980).

Live and act

Finck left home at an early age and attended the Hasselsche Institute in Frankfurt am Main , a private school which he graduated as the best. At the age of 14 years William Finck started in 1862 a three-year apprenticeship in banking in the Frankfurt bank Philipp Nicolaus Schmidt (Ph. N. Schmidt) completed and following four clerk -years. In 1869 he moved to London , to Nestle, Andreae & Co. , an import company a. a. the color goods industry. There he learned - in addition to banking - the goods business and the bigger picture . A year later, from July 1, 1870, he initially moved  to the newly founded banking house Merck, Christian & Co. , a Munich branch of the Darmstadt bank for trade and industry in Darmstadt , as an authorized signatory - on the recommendation of Carl Schmidt-Polex .

In 1871 Wilhelm Finck became a partner in the private bank and after Adolf Christian left Merck, Christian & Co. , Finck increased his shares and made his siblings August (* 1850) and Marie (* 1853) partners there without power of representation. The name of the bank was Merck Finck & Co from 1879 .

William Finck was with his father's friend , the in turn richest Bayern Theodor von Cramer-Klett , involved in the founding of several companies, such as Munich Reinsurance Company , the Allianz Versicherungs-AG and Munich streetcar AG and - together with the building contractor Jakob Heilmann  - in the Aktiengesellschaft Bürgerliches Brauhaus München and Isarwerke GmbH , which were merged into E.ON Bavaria in 2001 .

At the height of the industrialization of the German Empire , Finck played a major role in the expansion of the railway network with Theodor von Cramer-Klett and later for Theodor von Cramer-Klett junior  - whose guardianship Finck took over from 1884. Finck played a leading role in Saalbahn AG , part of the Munich – Berlin railway line, the section from Saalfeld / Saale to Großheringen . He was also involved in harnessing the hydropower of the Isar to generate electricity and transmit it over long distances. These include, for example, the electricity supplier hydroelectric plant Hollriegelskreuth , hydropower station Pullach and the hydroelectric plant Mühltal .

Ennoblement

On May 21, 1905, Finck was enrolled in the knight class on June 10 as head of the Merck Finck & Co banking house and royal Bavarian councilor through the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown to the Bavarian personal knighthood . On March 1, 1911 with enrollment on April 21 in the aristocratic class, he became the founder and owner of Wilhelm v. Finck'schen Fideikommiss and lifelong Imperial Councilor of the Crown of Bavaria raised by Luitpold of Bavaria to the Bavarian hereditary nobility .

In 1953 Bernhard Hoffmann, author of Wilhelm von Finck, Life picture of a German banker , wrote in 1953 :

“For decades, Wilhelm Finck bought land for the Bavarian state, if it could not and did not want to appear, in order to eliminate speculative interests. The expansion of the freight yard on Landsberger Strasse in Munich, the acquisitions for the expansion of the Ostbahnhof for cargo handling, those for the construction of the new Garmisch-Partenkirchen station, for institutes of universities and technical college in Munich, military training areas - these are some of the large objects for which he procured land in trust in time-consuming, arduous work without any remuneration. His skill and tenacity succeeded in achieving the desired goals, often for years. He saved the state and the general public so much money. "

The financial scientist , monetary theorist and sociologist Wilhelm Gerloff wrote about Wilhelm von Finck:

“It is not the talents, not the ability to do this or that that actually make the man of action; it is the personality on which everything depends. Character is based on personality, not talent. Man works everything he can through his personality. "

See also

literature

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Isar-Amperwerke AG, Bavarian Economic Archives, Munich (accessed on February 28, 2010).
  2. ^ Bernhard Hoffmann, author of Wilhelm von Finck, Life Picture of a German Banker, 1953, page 155/156.
  3. ^ Bernhard Hoffmann, author of Wilhelm von Finck, Life Picture of a German Banker, 1953.
personal data
SURNAME Finck, Wilhelm von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Finck, Wilhelm Peter; Finck, Wilhelm Peter von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Vilbel , Hesse
DATE OF DEATH April 8, 1924
Place of death Munich