Sal. Oppenheim
Encyclopedia
Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. KGaA is a European Private Bank, currently headquartered in Cologne, Germany. It manages and administers €138 billion of assets and employs around 3,800 employees in more than 30 sites in Germany and Europe. In October 2009, Deutsche Bank
announced plans to buy Oppenheim, a purchase which was completed in March 2010.
The bank was founded in 1789 in the city of Bonn
by seventeen-year-old Salomon Oppenheim
, Jr. as a commission
s and exchange house. Oppenheim dealt in commodities
, the exchanging of foreign currencies, extending credit; and, commercial credit.
In 1798, the business moved to Cologne
, then the most important banking place in Germany. In 1828, Salomon Oppenheim, Jr., died, and his wife Therese took over the direction of the bank along with their two sons, Simon and Abraham. Through the marriage of Abraham Oppenheim to Charlotte Beyfus in 1834, the family became closely related to the prominent Rothschild
banking family in matters both personal and business-related.
Beginning in the 1820s, Oppenheim financed the navy of the Rhineland
and later helped in the growth of the beginnings of the railway system, along with the industrialisation of the Rhineland
and the Ruhr
.
In 1836, a subsidiary company
was founded in Amsterdam
that survived until 1856. 1837 saw, for the first-time, the financing of many evolving, large-scale corporations. In 1838, the bank, together with the A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bank Association
and the Herstatt bank, founded the Colonia-Insurance Company. After the death of Therese Oppenheim in 1842, the company continued under the leadership of her two remaining sons. In 1853, the bank founded the Darmstädter Bank and, in 1870, was involved in the mortgage bank Eurohypo AG.
While Salomon, Therese, Simon, and Abraham Oppenheim were believers of Judaism
, Albert Oppenheim, one of Salomon's sons, converted to Catholicism
in 1858, and in 1859, Eduard Oppenheim, Simon's oldest son, was baptised Protestant
.
In 1868, Abraham Oppenheim was raised to the ranks of the Prussia
n Freiherr
and belonged to the inner-circle of King Wilhelm I.
After the death of Abraham and Simon in 1880, their sons, Albert and Eduard, assumed leadership of the bank. In 1904, the form of the company changed from that of a general partnership
to one of a limited partnership
that, from then on, was led by Alfred von Oppenheim and his cousin, Emil.
In 1912, with the appointment of Ferdinand Rinkel, the bank was led for the first time by someone outside the family. In 1921, he was replaced by Otto Kaufmann. From 1914 on, the bank was involved with nine war loans to Germany to help finance the first World War
.
In 1936, the bank voluntarily Aryanised
with the addition of Robert Pferdmenges as partner. Likewise, in 1936, the bank absorbed the Jewish Bank of A. Levy. In 1938, the bank signed their name to the newspaper campaign of the Nazi Party
as Robert Pferdmenges & Co.. The first private German horse stud farm, Schlenderhan, which was founded by Eduard von Oppenheim in 1869, was transferred to the SS
in 1942. After the imprisonment of Waldemar and Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim in 1944, the bank came to a standstill.
In 1945, the bank started up business again under the name of Pferdmenges & Co., and, in 1947, the name was changed back to Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie., with the Oppenheims once again becoming shareholders. The bank, amongst others, helped finance the Auto Union
, which later became Audi AG.
In 1968, the bank absorbed the Heinrich Kirchholtes & Co. Bank in Frankfurt am Main. Later expansions took place through subsidiary companies in Zürich
, München, Paris
, and London
.
In the course of German reunification
, the bank gained the position of advisor to the State on matters of privatisation.
In 1989, the bank's interests in the Colonia-Insurance Company were bought out and the bank's status there became that of limited partnership
on share matters.
In 2004, the bank bought out the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft, along with its partner, the Frankfurter Bank, which originated from the ING-BHF-Bank from the Dutch
ING-Konzern, that formed under the name "BHF-BANK - Privat seit 1854" (BHF-BANK - Private since 1854). With the transfer of BHF, Sal. Oppenheim has risen to the largest privately owned German bank (with M.M.Warburg & CO out of Hamburg being the second) and to being the largest Europe
an family-owned bank.
At the end of 2003, the bank employed 1,500 people in twenty locations, had nearly US$127 billion in asset management and profits totaling €61 million a year.
With the death of Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim
in 2005, the Oppenheim family's participation in the bank effectively ended. Alfred had partnered it with real estate developer Josef Esch, who subsequently played a major and sometimes controversial role in the bank's business activities.
In 2007, the bank headquarters moved to Luxembourg
. After the Closing of the Takeover, the Headquarter is now in Cologne, Germany.
On 4 July 2008, a subsidiary, Oppenheim Investment Managers Limited, was sold to Merrion Capital Group Limited.
As of December 2009, the bank was in the process of being bought by Deutsche Bank
for the reported sum of €1 billion, after it had become exposed to the Arcandor
bankruptcy. The sale was finalized in early 2010.
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Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
announced plans to buy Oppenheim, a purchase which was completed in March 2010.
History
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
by seventeen-year-old Salomon Oppenheim
Salomon Oppenheim
Salomon Oppenheim, Jr. was a German Jewish banker, the founder of the Sal. Oppenheim company.He was born in Bonn, the scion of an illustrious family of "Court Jews" who had served as advisers and moneylenders to the Prince-Archbishops of Cologne in the Rhineland area for several generations...
, Jr. as a commission
Commission (remuneration)
The payment of commission as remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. Payments often will be calculated on the basis of a percentage of the goods sold...
s and exchange house. Oppenheim dealt in commodities
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
, the exchanging of foreign currencies, extending credit; and, commercial credit.
In 1798, the business moved to Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, then the most important banking place in Germany. In 1828, Salomon Oppenheim, Jr., died, and his wife Therese took over the direction of the bank along with their two sons, Simon and Abraham. Through the marriage of Abraham Oppenheim to Charlotte Beyfus in 1834, the family became closely related to the prominent Rothschild
Rothschild family
The Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
banking family in matters both personal and business-related.
Beginning in the 1820s, Oppenheim financed the navy of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and later helped in the growth of the beginnings of the railway system, along with the industrialisation of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and the Ruhr
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
.
In 1836, a subsidiary company
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
was founded in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
that survived until 1856. 1837 saw, for the first-time, the financing of many evolving, large-scale corporations. In 1838, the bank, together with the A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bank Association
A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bank Association
The corporation of A. Schaaffhausen'scher Bank Association was a bank based in Cologne and was the first joint stock company legally recognised as a Bank in Germany.-Company history:...
and the Herstatt bank, founded the Colonia-Insurance Company. After the death of Therese Oppenheim in 1842, the company continued under the leadership of her two remaining sons. In 1853, the bank founded the Darmstädter Bank and, in 1870, was involved in the mortgage bank Eurohypo AG.
While Salomon, Therese, Simon, and Abraham Oppenheim were believers of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, Albert Oppenheim, one of Salomon's sons, converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
in 1858, and in 1859, Eduard Oppenheim, Simon's oldest son, was baptised Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
In 1868, Abraham Oppenheim was raised to the ranks of the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Freiherr
Freiherr
The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...
and belonged to the inner-circle of King Wilhelm I.
After the death of Abraham and Simon in 1880, their sons, Albert and Eduard, assumed leadership of the bank. In 1904, the form of the company changed from that of a general partnership
General partnership
In the commercial and legal parlance of most countries, a general partnership or simply a partnership, refers to an association of persons or an unincorporated company with the following major features:...
to one of a limited partnership
Limited partnership
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners , there are one or more limited partners . It is a partnership in which only one partner is required to be a general partner.The GPs are, in all major respects,...
that, from then on, was led by Alfred von Oppenheim and his cousin, Emil.
In 1912, with the appointment of Ferdinand Rinkel, the bank was led for the first time by someone outside the family. In 1921, he was replaced by Otto Kaufmann. From 1914 on, the bank was involved with nine war loans to Germany to help finance the first World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1936, the bank voluntarily Aryanised
Aryanization
Aryanization is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled....
with the addition of Robert Pferdmenges as partner. Likewise, in 1936, the bank absorbed the Jewish Bank of A. Levy. In 1938, the bank signed their name to the newspaper campaign of the Nazi Party
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
as Robert Pferdmenges & Co.. The first private German horse stud farm, Schlenderhan, which was founded by Eduard von Oppenheim in 1869, was transferred to the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
in 1942. After the imprisonment of Waldemar and Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim in 1944, the bank came to a standstill.
In 1945, the bank started up business again under the name of Pferdmenges & Co., and, in 1947, the name was changed back to Sal. Oppenheim Jr. & Cie., with the Oppenheims once again becoming shareholders. The bank, amongst others, helped finance the Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
, which later became Audi AG.
In 1968, the bank absorbed the Heinrich Kirchholtes & Co. Bank in Frankfurt am Main. Later expansions took place through subsidiary companies in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, München, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
In the course of German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the bank gained the position of advisor to the State on matters of privatisation.
In 1989, the bank's interests in the Colonia-Insurance Company were bought out and the bank's status there became that of limited partnership
Limited partnership
A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners , there are one or more limited partners . It is a partnership in which only one partner is required to be a general partner.The GPs are, in all major respects,...
on share matters.
In 2004, the bank bought out the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft, along with its partner, the Frankfurter Bank, which originated from the ING-BHF-Bank from the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
ING-Konzern, that formed under the name "BHF-BANK - Privat seit 1854" (BHF-BANK - Private since 1854). With the transfer of BHF, Sal. Oppenheim has risen to the largest privately owned German bank (with M.M.Warburg & CO out of Hamburg being the second) and to being the largest Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an family-owned bank.
At the end of 2003, the bank employed 1,500 people in twenty locations, had nearly US$127 billion in asset management and profits totaling €61 million a year.
With the death of Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim
Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim
Alfred Paul Ernst Freiherr von Oppenheim known in America as Alfred Oppenheim was a German billionaire and banker....
in 2005, the Oppenheim family's participation in the bank effectively ended. Alfred had partnered it with real estate developer Josef Esch, who subsequently played a major and sometimes controversial role in the bank's business activities.
In 2007, the bank headquarters moved to Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. After the Closing of the Takeover, the Headquarter is now in Cologne, Germany.
On 4 July 2008, a subsidiary, Oppenheim Investment Managers Limited, was sold to Merrion Capital Group Limited.
As of December 2009, the bank was in the process of being bought by Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
for the reported sum of €1 billion, after it had become exposed to the Arcandor
Arcandor
Arcandor AG is a holding company located in Essen, Germany that oversees companies operating in the businesses of mail order and internet shopping, department stores and tourism services. It was created in 1999 through the merger of Karstadt Warenhaus AG, which was founded in 1920, and Quelle...
bankruptcy. The sale was finalized in early 2010.
Well-known people associated with the bank
Bankers from Sal. Oppenheim often play a prominent role in German political and economic history, amongst others:- Salomon OppenheimSalomon OppenheimSalomon Oppenheim, Jr. was a German Jewish banker, the founder of the Sal. Oppenheim company.He was born in Bonn, the scion of an illustrious family of "Court Jews" who had served as advisers and moneylenders to the Prince-Archbishops of Cologne in the Rhineland area for several generations...
junior (Founder) - Abraham Oppenheim (Partner 1821–1878)
- Simon Oppenheim (Partner 1828-1880)
- Albert von Oppenheim (Partner 1880-1904)
- Robert Pferdmenges (Partner 1929–1953)
- Alfred Freiherr von OppenheimAlfred Freiherr von OppenheimAlfred Paul Ernst Freiherr von Oppenheim known in America as Alfred Oppenheim was a German billionaire and banker....
(Partner 1964–1993) - Matthias Graf von Krockow (Partner 1986-2010)
- Karl Otto PöhlKarl Otto PöhlKarl Otto Pöhl is a German economist and a President of the Bundesbank and Chairman of its Central Bank Council from 1980 to 1991....
(Partner 1993–1998) - Baron Georg von Ullmann (Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board)
- Josef Esch (Partner ???)
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See also
- Oppenheim FamilyOppenheim familyThe Oppenheim Family is a German-Jewish financial dynasty, which has been a prominent family in banking and finance in the European markets since at least the 18th century. According to Forbes Magazine's Family Dynasties, the Oppenheim Family divides control of their multi-billion dollar fortune...
- M.M.Warburg & CO, Berenberg BankBerenberg BankJoh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Berenberg Bank for short, is a German financial institution set up under the legal form of a limited partnership and based in Hamburg.- History :...
, Metzler BankMetzler BankThe B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. KGaA is a private banking company in Frankfurt, Germany. Metzler traces its origins to a trading company established 1674 by Benjamin Metzler in Frankfurt and is Germany’s oldest private bank still owned exclusively by the founding family.Metzler provides financial...
, Mendelssohn & Co.Mendelssohn & Co.Mendelssohn & Co. was a private bank residing in Berlin, Germany. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was one of the preeminent banking houses in Europe.... - Federal Financial Supervisory Authority
- Federal Association of German Banks