Hermann Josef Abs (* 15 October 1901 in Bonn; "† 5 February 1994 in bath Soden at the Taunus) was a German banker.

Life

Hermann Josef Abs, born as a son of the attorney Josef Abs and its wife Katharina, geb. grows up in a strictly catholic family. After the Abitur at the urban (human) High School in Bonn it completes bank teachings with Bonn private bank houses the Louis David and begins afterwards economics and jurisprudence at the University of Bonn to study. Already after one term it breaks off 1921 the study, around in each case for short time in banks in Cologne, Amsterdam, England, the USA and Latin America to arbeiten.1928 marries it Inez Schnitzler, which comes of to an outstanding Cologne family. For a few months go they to France and Spain, before Abs takes up 1928 to Amsterdam its activity with the bank Rhodius of king trade Maatschappij. it changes 1929 to Berlin to the renowned citizen of Berlin private bank house Schickler & CO, where it is accepted 1935 as a partner.

it receives the offer to 1937 to change as successors of the deceased of executive committee member Gustaf Schlieper to the German bank. It accepts it. 1938 it into the executive committee will appoint, whose member remains he to end of war 1945. Due to his foreign experiences and Fremdsprachenkenntnisse (he speaks flowing English, Dutch, French and Spanish) he is responsible in the executive committee for the foreign business and financings of industry. Starting from 1937 it is among other things also member in the supervisory board of the industrial union colors. 1941 it becomes member of the supervisory board the continental oil AG.

Abs is jointly responsible as an executive committee of the German bank to the Arisierung (= the enforced sale) of Jewish enterprises and banks. To call here the banking house is Mendelssohn and the leather producer eagle & Oppenheimer. The moral evaluation of the procedures is today disputed until. In the year 1939 the again-created Erft AG, at which the family Abs 50% of the portions holds, transfers the industrial concern of the Hubertus AG, which belongs by the majority to the company of the Jewish Petschek brothers. Its father Josef Abs is connected for the enterprise since its establishment and holds 12% of the portions. The old Hubertus AG is liquidated 1941. Deutsche Bank transfers in the occupied Tschechien in the year 1939 the union bank, which completes assumptions and transactions with the Arisierung of Jewish fortunes. A direct participation Abs in these procedures is disputed. The historian Lothar Gall does not recognize direct Involvement, since he is only a deputy for protectorate the and of the responsible person of executive committee Oswald Rsler, which is also a chairman of the supervisory board of the union bank, judges only 1943 the activities of the responsible person of coworker walter Pohle in one in the executive committee spread memorandum extremely critically.

Hermann Josef Abs belonged time life to no party. 1943 penetrate the NSDAP in the process of the discussion around the reform of the banks without success on the dismissal of the catholic executive committees Clemens Plassmann and exp. Abs have, a part of the resistance against Hitler to have been always answered in the negative, even if he had contacts to persons of the resistance.

After the war Abs is suspended in accordance with instruction of the allied ones by its executive committee post and arrested for approximately three months. Afterwards it is consulted as a financial adviser in the British zone of occupation. In the later Entnazifizierungsverfahren it is classified under the category V (relieved).

It is considerably involved, among other things in the structure of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1948 to 1952 as a chairman of the board of the kreditanstalt fuer wiederaufbau. It financial adviser of Konrad Adenauer and negotiated with the USA about restaurant economics. 1952 successfully lead Abs the German delegation for the regulation of the German foreign debts in London (success: Halving of the requirements on approximately 14 billion German Marks), 1955 he achieves frozen German fortunes there in the USA the release that since the Second World War.

1952 took up, first Abs its official activity in the German bank, Berlin Duesseldorf again as speakers of the executive committee in the South German bank AG, Munich, one of the three follow-up institutes of the German bank. Its job and domicile are however in Frankfurt/Main. 1957 he becomes then also speaker of the executive committee of the again united German bank, Frankfurt/Main. With up to 30 supervisory board mandates, of it 20 as a chairman, is he into the 1960er years a key figure of the German economy and the most influential banker in Germany. After its separating from the executive committee he is selected 1967 to the chairman of the supervisory board. 1976 it terminates its supervisory board mandate, remains however up to its death in the February of 1994 honorary chairmen of the German bank due to the multiplicity its supervisory board mandates the so-called "“Lex Abs"” will issue, which limits the number of supervisory board mandates to maximally 10, whereby preside doubly are counted.

The practicing catholic belongs to the knight medal of the holy grave since 1955 to Jerusalem on and from 1968 to 1971 the central committee of the German catholics. Hermann Josef Abs is among other things honour citizen of the city Frankfurt/Main. 1965 were lent to it the Bavarian earnings/service medal.

Literature

• Konrad fox: Hermann Josef exp. in: BBKL No. 16 (1999), P. 2-6.
• Lothar Gall: A one for all Hermann Josef Abs in the third realm. In: Magazine for enterprise history No. 43 (1998), P. 1-53.
• Lothar Gall: The banker Hermann Josef exp. Beck publishing house, Munich 2004, ISBN 3406521959

Related links

• Biografie of the historical society of the German bank

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