The Bank of Bremen () was a German bank, founded in 1856 initially as a

bank of issue A bank of issue, also referred to as a note-issuing bank or issuing authority, is a financial institution that issues banknotes. The short-lived Stockholms Banco (1657-1667) printed notes from 1661 onwards and is generally viewed as the first-ev ...

, a privilege which it lost in 1889. In 1895, it was acquired by

Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank AG () was a German bank, founded in 1872 in Dresden, then headquartered in Berlin from 1884 to 1945 and in Frankfurt from 1963 onwards after a postwar hiatus. Long Germany's second-largest bank behind Deutsche Bank, it was eventually ...

but the brand name survived until 2010. It had branches in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

's districts Mitte (city center next to

Bremen Cathedral Bremen Cathedral (), named after St. Peter, is a church situated in the market square in the center of Bremen. The cathedral belongs to the Bremian Evangelical Church, a member of the umbrella organization Evangelical Church in Germany. It ...

), Neustadt, Utbremen, and

Vegesack Vegesack is a northern district of Bremen, the capital of the Germany , German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (Freie Hansestadt Bremen). Geography ''Vegesack'' is located about north from the centre of Brem ...

History

The Bank of Bremen was founded in 1856 by tradesmen and ship-owners and with a significant contribution of , also associated with the founding of the Bremen Exchange and

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

. Its forerunner was the , founded in 1817. Together with the

Frankfurter Bank The ''Frankfurter Bank'' was a German bank founded in 1854 in Frankfurt, which issued its own banknotes until 1901. On , it merged with the Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft to form , generally referred to as BHF Bank until 2017 and since then as ...

(est. 1854), it was viewed as more independent than most other local banks of issue in Germany, which were generally under direct government control even when they were not government-owned. In 1895, Hermann Henrich Meier led the merger negotiations with Eugen Gutmann of Dresdner Bank. The merger was profitable for the Bremer tradesmen; the name Bremer Bank remained used in Bremen. The branches in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

were later relabeled as Dresdner Bank. From 1902 until 1904 a new head office building was built according to plans by architects Albert Dunkel and Dietrich Tölken in the

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

style in Domshof (Cathedral Court), a location that had been occupied by the St. Petri orphanage until demolition in 1902. In 1979, the building was significantly expanded by a north-east extension on plans by architect Dietrich and Herrmann. A building located next to the old bank headquarters was included in the extension, of which only a white front in the style of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

remained. The old bank building was mostly preserved especially the entrance area towards Domshof. From 1980 until 1990 the building was also home of Bremen Exchange. Following the 2010 acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Commerzbank, the Bremer Bank's former base of customers and staff was added to

Commerzbank The Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft (shortly known as Commerzbank AG or Commerzbank ) is a European Financial institution, banking institution headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It offers services to private and entrepreneurial c ...

. Since 2010, the brand Bremer Bank has been entirely discontinued. A trademark protection has extended until November 30, 2019. The name Bremer Bank is now solely used for the landmarked building at Domshof, where Commerzbank maintained a branch until mid-2015. The copper lettering 'Bremer Bank' remained on the gable of the building. Above the entrance used to be green luminous advertising reading 'Bremer Bank' which was replaced according to landmark requirements by a copper sign now reading 'Commerzbank' including the logo also in brown copper. The color of the copper writings through weathering in time will turn into a green basic copper(II)-carbonate color which will match the building's roof. The old bank building on the corner Domshof / Sandstraße has been listed as landmark since 1994. The entrances in other parts of the building ensemble are designed as official access to offices and other institutions. For example, the Bremer branch of Barmer GEK is located behind the white, classical front. In 2016 a branch of

manufactum Manufactum GmbH & Co. KG (formerly ''Manufactum Hoof & Partner KG'') is a German retailer with nine full-sized stores in Germany and an online store that serves primarily Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the UK. The main focus of the company are ...

was opened in the counter hall. Today, "Markthalle Acht" (Market hall 8) is located in the atrium of the building ensemble which was roofed, because of the address Domshof 8.

References

{{Portal, Banks German companies established in 1856 Defunct banks of Germany Commerzbank Dresdner Bank Banks established in 1856 Banks disestablished in 2010 German companies disestablished in 2010

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

See also

References