Introduction

Commercial banking on the Continent presents certain important differences from the practice of Germany. In the main these differences may be defined by saying that the Continental banks are less specialized, and combine with short loan banking other functions, particularly the equipment of undertakings with permanent capital. The earliest examples of the Continental type of bank may perhaps be found in the Belgian Société Générale, established in 1822, and the more famous Crédit Mobilier of France, established in 1852. The creditbanks are joint stock banks carrying on general banking and acquiring their constitution under the general law relating to companies. This chapter provides the place of the creditbanks in the German credit system as a whole by a brief reference to the other elements of which the latter was composed before the War. In addition, then, to the creditbanks there were: note-issuing banks; joint-stock mortgage banks; landschaften; landesbanken, provinzial-Hilfskassen; savings banks; co-operative credit societies; and Königliche Seehandlung.