Banks build

A close look at financial institutions’ ‘building’ roles

29 Jun 2023 at 9:50am

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

A financial archives workshop organised by eabh

sponsored by Deutsche Bank AG

In this workshop, we are looking for collections, databases and archival projects that shed light on the link of financial institutions as builders.

In history, financial institutions have always played major, often pioneering roles when new countries were built, independence was established, or peacetime re-building started. They initiated state and infrastructure building by helping other companies (re-)start their businesses in new legislations or after disruptive periods.

In the framework of this meeting, we would like to look at archival evidence in and about financial institutions’ ‘building’ roles. The connections between banking and building, finance, cities, and countries may be wide range – and unexpected. The examples of historical experiences are global and manifold: the building of US infrastructure after independence (railways), specialising US financial infrastructure in the process, re-building Europe after WWI, after WWII and during the Eastern extension of the EU, nation building in Central and South America, African independence, …, to name just a few…

The evolution of a country or economy is always reflected in the records banks, exchanges and insurers hold: if you look at what’s traded and insured and how successfully, you can see the state an economy is in. More and beyond, finance plays a major role in building cities and infrastructure during ‘normal’ times; the sector’s importance for architecture, urban planning and building of all kinds is undenied.

Programme

29 June

09.30 Coffee for arriving audience 09.50 Greetings Melanie Aspey, The Rothschild Archive & Treasurer of eabh Martin L. Müller, Head of the Historical Institute, Deutsche Bank AG 10.00 Session 1 Post War European reconstruction The Historical Archives of the European Investment Bank Dieter Schlenker, Historical Archives of the European Union Piraeus Bank Marshall Plan archives: Documenting the impact of the European Recovery Program in West Attica Konstantina Konstantopoulou & Dimitrios Ramantanoglou, Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation Moderator: Martin L. Müller, Head of the Historical Institute, Deutsche Bank AG 10.45 Coffee 11.00 Session 2 19th century: New nations The National Bank of San Carlos: Promoter, builder and financier of public works. The Guadarrama Canal and El Gasco Dam Elena Serrano, Banco de España The Bank of Sicily 1843 -1867: Foundation, transformation and consolidation of a bank and pillar of the economy of Southern Italy Alex Cooper, Leicester University Moderator: Niels Viggo Haueter, Head of Corporate History, Swiss Re 11.45 Lunch 12.45 Session 3 20th century: Financing infrastructure Railways, subways, electricity supply and urban development - Deutsche Bank’s infrastructure investments before World War I Martin L. Müller, Deutsche Bank AG Innovation and investments at the BGK archives Radosław Milcarski, Bank Gospodarstwa Krjowego (BGK) ‘White Anthrax’: An overview of archival and research sources on the development of hydroelectric energy production in Greece from the National Bank of Greece Historical Archive Chrysalena Antonopoulou, National Bank of Greece The Istituto bancario San Paolo di Torino and public interest. The stories behind the figures Maria Stella Circosta, Fondazione 1563 Moderator: Andreas Kakridis, Scientific Advisor to the Historical Archive, Bank of Greece 14.15 Coffee 14.30 Session 4 Transforming regions Banks as an instrument for handling structural change processes: Aachen’s transformation from a mining location to a city for technology innovation Christoph Speitkamp, University of Aachen Territorial expansion & bank building: The role of central and private issuance in colonialism Gustav Peebles, The NEW School, New York Moderator: April Miller, Manager, World Bank Group Archives and Records 15.15 Closing remarks April Miller, World Bank Group Archives and Records 15.30 End of workshop 19.30 Dinner Margarete, Braubachstraße 18-22