ABSTRACT
The historian investigates a document presented to him during a visit to an archive primarily according to the testimony of its content. Why he should again or still be holding it, what era it belongs to and why it bears a specific signature are all things not relevant for every user of historical sources. The fact that the handeddown chronicle of a company as told in the archive material reflects a great deal of its fate, even where major international banks are concerned, should not only be of interest for the archivist.
