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| Home > Topics > East Asia > Gallery - The branches of Deutsch-Asiatische Bank |
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Branch in Tsingtao (now Qindao, German: Tsingtau)
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DAB Tsingtao branch |
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The DAB branch in Tsingtao, which had stemmed from an agency set up there a year before, was special in that it was located in a territory that was part of the German Reich until 1914. In November 1897, the region (covering an area approximately the size of Hamburg) was occupied by German troops in a surprise coup and, in 1898, was leased by China under pressure for 99 years to Germany. A short time later, DAB initiated business operations in Tsingtao. It was intended above all to serve as a financial point of support for companies established in the neighbouring province of Shantung. In addition to the region around Tsingtao, Germany had secured an additional contract on railway and mining rights in Shangtung. Tsingtao itself developed from a modest fishermen's village into a city of 70,000 residents (1914) and was set up as a model German city. The first business offices DAB occupied were in Bismarckstrasse in the building of the Catholic Mission. Around 1900 it moved into the representative building shown here on Kaiser-Friedrich-Ufer, overlooking the waterfront. Starting in 1910, the branch had its own mortgage department. In 1914, after heavy fighting, Tsingtao was conquered by the Japanese, who then confiscated the contents of the branch's vaults. The branch staff were banished or, like the branch Director, deported to Japan. Although the branch was able to resume its business after the First World War, once Germany had lost its position as a colonial power, the import business, which had dominated until then, lost in importance. But the export business was again successfully expanded. In 1938, Tsingtao was again occupied by Japanese troops. In 1945, the Tsingtao branch was closed along with all the Chinese DAB branches.
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