Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁸

Hermann Josef Abs

German banker and advisor

Hermann Josef Abs (15 October 1901, Bonn – 5 February 1994, Bad Soden) was a leading banker during the Nazi regime, and advisor to Chancellor Adenauer. He was a member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank from 1938 to 1945, as well as of 44 other companies, including IG Farben.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Hermann Josef Abs (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Oct 15, 1901, died Feb 5, 1994.¹

About

As the most powerful commercial banker of the Third Reich, he was, according to economic journalist Adam LeBor, "the lynchpin of the continent wide plunder". The Allies arrested him in January 1946; however, British intervention got him freed after three months, and German courts later dropped all charges.

He was chairman of Deutsche Bank, and contributed to the reconstruction of the German economy. He chaired the German credit facility that distributed the counterpart funds created by the Marshall Plan. Working closely with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, he was a leader in rebuilding heavy industry, and helped draft the investment policy for basic industries in 1952. He played a major diplomatic role in resolving the prewar German debts at the London War Debt Agreement of 1953. In 1953 he negotiated the restitution to Israel and individual Jews for the Holocaust.

From Wikipedia’s article on Hermann Josef Abs, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Dahlbusch Verwaltungs-AGBoard member¹⁷

Early life and education

Date not recordedUniversity of Bonn³

Career

Occupation: art collector, chairperson, financier, bank teller, patron of the arts, board member, banker.^{7 8}

Until 1939Board member, British and German Trust⁵
Date not recordedFounded German Council on Foreign Relations⁴
Date not recordedBoard member, Dahlbusch Verwaltungs-AG⁶

Personal life

BornOct 15, 1901, Bonn⁹
DiedFeb 5, 1994, Bad Soden am Taunus¹⁰
CitizenshipGermany¹¹
ResidenceGrafschaft^{12 13}
SpouseInez Abs¹⁴

Legal issues and controversies

In 1974, the artist Hans Haacke revealed the supposed role of Abs with the Nazi regime in a project for the exhibition Manet-PROJEKT '74' which detailed, in ten panels, the ownership history of Édouard Manet's Bunch of Asparagus (1880). The Wallraf-Richartz Museum rejected the Haacke display.

In 1995, studies of the Deutsche Bank archives by Harold James show that, while the DB helped the Nazi in different variating degrees, direct and indirectly, there has various links between Abs and anti-Nazi resistance during the war, while Abs decided not direct participate in resistance organized acts, he went to various secret meetings and such links were described as something that made James "astounded".

After the war, he participated in the restitution to Israel and individual Jews for the Holocaust.

From Wikipedia’s article on Hermann Josef Abs (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

1992State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia¹⁵
1990Hessian Order of Merit¹⁵
1988Grand Cross 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany¹⁵
1982Ring of Honour of the Görres society¹⁵
1968Bernhard Harms Prize^{15 16}
1967Medalla Jabach¹⁵
1966Ehrenplakette der Stadt Frankfurt am Main¹⁵
Date not recordedBavarian Order of Merit¹⁵
Date not recordedKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Gregory the Great¹⁵
Date not recordedhonorary citizen of Frankfurt am Main¹⁵

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataHermann Josef Abs on Wikidata
2
WikipediaHermann Josef Abs on Wikipedia
3
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: education, on Wikidata
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WikidataHermann Josef Abs: Founded German Council on Foreign Relations, on Wikidata
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WikidataHermann Josef Abs: Board member, British and German Trust, on Wikidata
6
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: Board member, Dahlbusch Verwaltungs-AG, on Wikidata
7
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: occupation, on Wikidata
8
Wikidataoccupation, as reported by RKDartists
9
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataHermann Josef Abs: place of death, on Wikidata
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WikidataHermann Josef Abs: citizenship, on Wikidata
12
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: residence, on Wikidata
13
Wikidataresidence, as reported by Einwohner-Adreßbuch Gemeinde Grafschaft
14
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: spouse, on Wikidata
15
WikidataHermann Josef Abs: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
17
WikidataDahlbusch Verwaltungs-AG, Board member
18
Wikimedia CommonsHermann Josef Abs photo by Unknown author Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0