Benjamin Metzler (1650-1686) initially founded a trading company for cloth goods in Frankfurt. Long-distance colonial trade, as well as other international trade relations, meant that money transactions also played an important role. The merchandise business was increasingly replaced by the money and exchange business until the 18th century, when an exemplary transformation from a trading house to a banking house took place.
In the 19th century, the bank’s clientele included wealthy private individuals, whose main business was now asset management, individual financial services and trading in listed securities.
After the First World War, Bankhaus Metzler suffered from inflation and the economic crisis. Many private banks disappeared during this time, and Bankhaus Metzler also had to downsize its business and lay off employees. In March 1944, the bank building was destroyed in an air raid and many business documents were destroyed. During a move in 2014, previously unknown documents from the Nazi era were discovered, which provided new insights into the bank’s role under National Socialism.
The period after the war was a phase in which the bank’s priority was to rebuild its own assets as the basis for its banking business. The real upswing came at the end of the 1970s with the expansion of the securities markets. In 1986, the company changed its legal form to a partnership limited by shares (KGaA) and created a holding structure based on the Anglo-Saxon model. In 2021, the company was converted into a stock corporation. Today, the bank focuses on individual capital market services for institutional and private clients.
The history of Bankhaus Metzler is closely linked to that of Frankfurt as a financial center: since 1742, owners of the bank have almost without exception been represented in the management of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
For Metzler’s CEO, Gerhard Wiesheu, the exhibition brings the bank’s rich history to life. It forms the basis for the anniversary year under the motto “Focus on the future”. Gerhard Wiesheu explained: “In our anniversary year, we are doing something that has always characterized Metzler: We are looking to the future. Entrepreneurial spirit with a compass – that is what has made Metzler last for centuries.”
Tour of the exhibition
Crises and Frankfurt’s first female banker
With documents and images from the Metzler Historical Archive that have never been shown before, as well as numerous objects from the museum’s collection, the exhibition traces the company’s history. It covers crises and wars, Frankfurt’s first female banker and the development of banking operations, from government bonds to the business areas of financial services and asset management.
A cabinet exhibition is divided into four themes. The theme “Merchand Banquiers” (merchant bankers) highlights the diverse 350-year history of the bank. From a letter from the founder Benjamin Metzler dating from 1676 to a bill of exchange from 1754 and a letter from the Nazi era that was only discovered in 2014.
The family’s social and cultural commitment is made visible through the family’s donations to the city under the heading “civic spirit”. For example, the golden ceremonial cup from which Kaiser Wilhelm II drank in 1903 is on display.
The “Women” theme focuses on the female members of the family, such as Frankfurt’s “first female banker”, Christina Babara Metzler, who took over the management of the bank in 1757 as an unmarried woman.
Photographs and sketches of the bank’s locations as well as the prestigious properties that the family has acquired and built in and around Frankfurt since the 19th century are presented in the “Places” section. These include Haus Metzler in Bonames, the Badetempel in Offenbach and the historic Villa Metzler on Schaumainkai.
How closely the Metzler family and company history is linked to the city’s history can also be seen in the permanent exhibition at the Historical Museum. A new themed tour follows in the footsteps of the Metzler family over 18 stops in the rest of the museum.
Information about the visit
The exhibition at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt, Saalhof 1, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, is open until June 23, 2024. The supporting program includes a series of lectures and guided tours with curator Frank Berger, curator Nathalie Angersbach and company historian Berenike Seib. More information at www.historisches-museum-frankfurt.de
Text: Dr. Wolfgang Gerhardt, Historisches Museum Frankfurt, automated translation of the German original
Images: Historisches Museum Frankfurt