Our story

Deutsche Bank was founded in 1870 as a foreign trade bank, and within three years had opened branches in Japan, China and the UK. By the end of the century we’d financed a number of large-scale industrial projects, including the development of Germany’s electrical engineering industry and the building of the Baghdad Railway.

The first half of the twentieth century was dominated by inflation, crisis and war, and we responded by consolidation and pioneering a number of huge mergers and acquisitions. In the face of enormous challenges, the resilience, optimism and hard work of our people helped us emerge stronger than ever.

Domestic and foreign expansion followed, and we made fundamental reforms to our organizational structure. We moved into general retail banking, and as our international business grew we developed into a truly global group.

Today Deutsche Bank is one of the world’s largest investment banks. Employing over 100,000 people and serving 24 million customers in 72 countries, our international reach provides our workforce with unprecedented opportunities to develop their careers and achieve their ambitions.