WesWorld

Founded in 1833 by the financier Alexander von Schoeller this institution is one of the oldest private banks in the Austrian provinces. From the outset the bank has been involved in commercial credit and the underwriting of securities, particularly in the foundation of many of the most important industrial enterprises in the former Hapsburg lands. Thanks to the acumen of its managers and its reserves the bank was able to weather the financial troubles that attended the Great War and emerged intact, if somewhat reduced through the loss of assets in the now-independent successor states.

To compensate for these losses the house evolved into a universal bank and sought to develop the domestic market for its services. In 1923 it acquired the Salzburger Kredit und Wechsel Bank and opened the first of what would become thirteen branches across the Austrian provinces. Following the union of Austria with the Reich, it opened offices in Frankfurt and Berlin, taking a leading role in the formation of many of the new firms that have sprung up to take advantage of the changed economic circumstances.

The present concern was established in 1869 as a joint stock bank though founded upon the much older Bankhaus Scheibenpogen, whose roots date to 1650. As a regional bank it provided deposit and commercial credit services to individuals and small-to-medium sized firms in Upper Austria and the Salzburg area. Lacking the international exposure of the great banks of Wien it weathered the financial crisis of the Great War in relatively good condition, and in the 1920s became one of Austria’s strongest regional banks.

Following the union of the Austrian provinces with the Reich it took advantage of the improved economic conditions to expand its operations. It acquired, through exchange of shares, the Bank für Kärnten und Steiermark and the Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg, both smaller regional banks, and established a strong presence throughout all the Austrian provinces. At the same time it expanded its line of services, becoming a universal bank, and established branches in München, Frankfurt, Prague and Budapest.

It is known informally as “Oberbank”.

This concern was founded in 1919 as Textilverwaltung AG to stabilise and refinance the German textile industry in the wake of the Great War. The present style was adopted in 1921. Initial capital was provided by the Deutsche Bank. Initially limited to providing short- and mid-term financing, in 1925 it was authorised to provide long-term debenture and equity funding for expansion of the industry, and has taken equity positions in numerous textile firms around of the country, including: the Gesellschaft für Spinnerei und Weberei in Ettlingen; Spinnerei Lauffenmühle in Tiengen; the Viersener AG für Spinnerei und Weberei; and Vereinigte Vigogne-Spinnereien AG in Chemnitz; the Baumwollspinnerei Gronau; Broschierweberei AG in Elsterberg; the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei; and the Weißthaler Spinnerei AG in Mittewalda.

This institution was founded in 1926 to provide hire-purchase and credit financing to farmers for the acquisition of tractors and other mechanised agricultural machinery. Established by a consortium of banks the major shareholders were the Deutsche Rentenbank-Kreditanstalt, the Deutsche Bank, the Dresdner Bank, the Commerz-und-Privatbank, the Deutsche Girozentrale, the Deutsche Kommunalbank, and the Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft. The availability of finance through this institution was instrumental in increasing the use of mechanised equipment on German farms with concomitant improvement in its productivity.

In 1939 the Landwirtschaftliche Industrie-und Handels AG was founded as a subsidiary to provide export credits for sales in Western Europe of German agricultural machinery. The Deutsch-Osteuropäische Export Handels AG, founded in 1941, performs a similar role in Central and Southeastern Europe. A third subsidiary, the West-Asiatische Handels-Industrie AG, was established in 1944 to finance the sale of tractors and other machinery in Turkey and the Levant.