Bankhaus Aufhäuser

The bank founded in 1870 by Heinrich Aufhäuser established itself in the last third of the 19th century, especially especially in the securities trade. In 1899, it moved into larger offices at Löwengrube 20, in the middle of Munich’s city center. At the start of the 20th century, its customers included numerous socially influential people.

After the death of the company's founder in 1917, his sons Martin and Siegfried joined the successful, internationally well-networked company. They worked in particular to expand lending and expanded the primary location to include neighboring properties at Löwengrube 18 and 19 in the 1920s. In 1928, the bank procured a loan in the millions for the city of Munich on the London money market; it was to be used for the expansion of municipal energy supply and also enabled the establishment of the Gemeinnützige Wohnungsfürsorge AG (Non-profit housing association AG)(GEWOFAG). The Aufhäuser brothers were also generous supporters of public institutions such as the Deutsches Museum, the university, the Schwabing hospital, and the zoo.

After 1933, the business of banks declared by the National Socialists to be ‘Jewish’ declined sharply; various takeover offers from other banks and the order for ‘Aryanization’ in summer 1938 could be warded off at the start. The Aufhäuser family itself took up negotiations for a business takeover with the Hamburg private banker Friedrich Wilhelm Seiler, but the pogrom on November 9-10, 1938 nullified all the family’s plans: The worked up mob ravaged the building on the Löwengrube and drove one of the partners, Emil Kraemer, and his wife to commit suicide. Martin Aufhäuser was imprisoned in the Dachau Concentration Camp and the majority of his private collection of jewelry and art was confiscated by the Gestapo. In March 1939, he emigrated to the Netherlands, and from there to the USA in 1942; he died there in 1944. His brother Siegfried, who had British citizenship, was spared the National Socialist terror, but he also had to withdraw from the bank and left Germany in the same year as his brother. The bank was completely ‘Aryanized’ and continued under the name Seiler & Co. Only Josef Bayer, who had worked as a manager since 1921, remained at the bank after the war ended.

Since 1949, the bank has been involved in the transfer of compensation and reparations payments. After the completion of repayment negotiations with the heirs, the bank took on its original name on January 21, 1954, without having any member of the Aufhäuser family become involved in the company's operations.