ABSTRACT
If we look at research in banking policy during the period directly following the Second World War in Germany, it becomes apparent that a clear concentration has taken place both geographically and institutionally. Only the three Western occupation zones have been studied, whereas the Soviet zone has mainly been neglected. Institutionally, almost all studies have concentrated on the three big banks and the central bank – from the foundation of the Bank deutscher La¨nder up to its transformation into the Deutsche Bundesbank. Regional banks as well as cooperative banks and savings banks have mostly remained unexamined. The most attention has certainly been devoted to the Bank deutscher
La¨nder, whose creation is also directly linked to the currency reform of 20 June 1948 and thus to the introduction of the Deutsch mark (DM) (Buchheim, 1998, pp. 91-138; Buchheim, 1988, pp. 189-231; Wandel, 1980; Mo¨ller, 1976, pp. 433-83). Above all, during the last decade the banking policy of the Western Allies towards the three big banks has been repeatedly studied. We are in the fortunate position of having studies both from the perspectives of the military governments (Horstmann, 1991) and from the banks affected (Holtfrerich, 1995, pp. 357-521). Without a doubt, the treatment of the big banks – named the ‘Big Six’ by
the Americans – is especially fascinating. The Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank and the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft as well as the state-owned Reichs-Kredit-Gesellschaft and Bank der Deutschen Arbeit were the main focus of the investigations of the American Military Government, which saw ‘an unusual’ or ‘excessive concentration of economic power’ (OMGUS [Office of Military Government for Germany, United States], 1985, p. 13; OMGUS, 1986, p. 5) in these institutions. Discussions on the investigative reports arising from this have continued up to the most recent legal proceedings in the United States. The OMGUS
Reports on Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank are being republished in the United States (Simpson, 2001). Although these new editions are being published, historical research in the history of big banks during the Third Reich has advanced significantly in the mean time and our understanding of the OMGUS Reports has been revised in numerous respects. The contents of the OMGUS Reports must now be seen in the light of their authors’ motivation.
