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Deutsche Reichsbank (1876 - 1945)
With the creation of the German state in 1871
(see also History of the German Empire) the currency affairs
needed to be controlled centrally. For this purpose the central bank "Deutsche Reichsbank" was founded
on 1. January 1876 as a successor of the Prussian state bank.
The Reichsbank controlled the German currency Mark. Initially the Mark was a very stable currency, due
to the policy of the Reichsbank. The financial strain of World War 1,
however, started a crisis of the Mark that culminated in 1923. The Mark was caught in the vicious circle
of the hyper inflation.
On the 30. August 1924 a new currency - the Reichsmark - replaced the
devalued Mark and was used until 1945. The Reichsmark was also controlled by the Reichsbank.
The Reichsbank was based in Berlin and was headed by the
Reichsbankdirektorium (Board of directors of the Reichsbank). Its president was proposed by the German
emperor or President of the Reich and ratified by the German Federal council (Bundesrat).
The Reichsbank was headed by the following presidents:
1876 – 1890 Hermann von Dechend
1890 – 1908 Richard Koch
1908 – 1923 Rudolf E.A. Havenstein
1923 – 1930 Hjalmar Schacht
1930 – 1933 Hans Luther
1933 – 1939 Hjalmar Schacht
1939 – 1945 Walther Emanuel Funk
The signatures of the presidents can be found on the banknotes from the respective periods.
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Koch
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Havenstein
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Schacht
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Funk
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Deutsche Rentenbank (1923 - 1924)
To fight the hyper inflation in Germany the Rentenbank
was founded on 16. October 1923. The government at this time did not have the amount of Gold necessary
to cover the equity of the bank. Therefore agricultural and industrial assets were mortgaged to raise
the amount of 3.2 Billion Rentenmark.
On 15. November 1923 the Rentenbank started to issue a new currency the
Rentenmark. It was pegged to
the US Dollar at the rate of 4.2 Rentenmark = 1 US Dollar. One Rentenmark was worth 1 Billion Mark
(Papiermark) of the inflation currency.
The Rentenmark was officially replaced by the Reichsmark
in 1924, but stayed in circulation. Since the
mortgages could not be repaid as quickly as planned even in 1939 a new issue of Rentenmark was released with the date of 1937.
Bank Deutscher Länder (1948 - 1957)
The Bank Deutscher Länder (BDL) was founded on 1. March 1948 in Frankfurt(Main). Initially created
to control the currency in the British and American zone of Germany, the French administration joined
soon. Until 1951 the BDL was supervised by the allied forces. Thereafter the German Federal government
was given control over it.
Between 1945 and the creation of the BDL in 1948 the central banks of the individual
German states (Landesbanken)
controlled the money. The introduction of the Deutsche Mark in June 1948 made it necessary to
create a central money control in West Germany.
The Landesbanken were still heavily involved in the dealings of the BDL and owned its equity.
The BDL was headed by:
1948 - 1957: Dr. Karl Bernard, Head of the Central Bank Council
1948 - 1957: Dr. Wilhelm Vocke, President of the board of directors
Deutsche Notenbank (1947 - 1968)
The Notenbank was founded in 1948 in the Soviet sector of Germany to control the money issued during
money reform in East Germany. The Notenbank was directly controlled
by the Ministry of Finance of the GDR. It was a means to control the economic and finance activities
of the country in a planned fashion. The Notenbank also issued the
Mark Deutscher Notenbanken.
Staatsbank der DDR (1968 - 1990
The Staatsbank der DDR (State bank of the GDR) was founded on 1. January 1968 and succeeded the
Deutsche Notenbank as central bank for East Germany.
The Staatsbank was under direct control of the political authorities and had to execute and support
the economic policies of the socialist government. This included the issue of currency
(Mark der DDR) and clearing of international payments and
transfers of money, Gold and securities.
The monetary function of the Staatsbank was taken over by the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1990 with the
introduction of the Deutsche Mark in East Germany. The Staatsbank was dismantled thereafter.
Deutsche Bundesbank (1957 - present)
The Bundesbank was founded in 1957 and succeeded the Bank Deutscher Länder. Until 2001 it controlled
the Deutsche Mark, which was used in West Germany until 1990 only.
After the unification of Germany the Deutsche Mark
was used in the whole of Germany until replaced by
the single European Currency "Euro".
Today the Bundesbank controls the financial system in Germany, controls the federal debts and has some
money clearing functions.
The Bundesbank was headed by the following presidents of the board:
1957 - 1958: Dr. Wilhelm Vocke
1958 - 1969: Dr. Karl Blessing
1969 - 1977: Dr. Karl Klasen
1977 - 1979: Dr. Otmar Emminger
1980 - 1991: Karl Otto Pöhl
1991 - 1993: Helmut Schlesinger
1993 - 1999: Prof. Dr. Dr. Hans Tietmeyer
1999 - 2004: Ernst Welteke
2004: Dr. Jürgen Stark (interim)
2004 - present: Prof. Dr. Axel A. Weber
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