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Deutsche Bank's first domicile in Berlin was modest. A two-storey rented building at Französische Strasse 21, not far from the Gendarmenmarkt and the French Cathedral, was home to the bank's first business premises from April 1870. The rooms were narrow and dark. Even the office of Georg Siemens, the first Management Board Spokesman, was so gloomy that his father, as a former lawyer certainly not spoiled as far as business premises were concerned, could only shake his head in sympathy when he saw it.
In autumn 1871, the bank left these inhospitable surroundings and moved into a building at Burgstrasse 29, close to the Berlin Stock Exchange. The bank did not stay long at that address either. In 1876 it acquired, along with Deutsche Union-Bank, the latter's building at Behrenstrasse 9, which was the starting point for the future extensions, new structures and additions for the Berlin Head Office. Deutsche Bank's premises centred on Mauerstrasse, Behrenstrasse and Kanonierstrasse became famous for the two bridges connecting the main buildings. The building complex was finished in summer 1915.
During the Second World War, the buildings were, in part, severely damaged. Head Office operations were maintained, however, until the Berlin banks were closed at the end of April 1945 by the Soviet Town Major.
After losing its Berlin Head Office, Deutsche Bank, meanwhile disincorporated into smaller banks, was rebuilt primarily at the sites of its main branches in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main. The bank's buildings in these cities had also suffered heavy damage in aerial attacks during the war. In the reconstruction phase, the first buildings to be rebuilt were the grand edifices dating back to the Wilhelminian era. After the reconstitution of Deutsche Bank in 1957 with its legal domicile in Frankfurt and administrative centres in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, the first extensions were also built in the sober style of the early post-war period.
The following years saw the advent of new architectonic styles, especially in Frankfurt. Modelled on the big U.S.cities, high-rise structures started to appear. Deutsche Bank's first office tower was built in 1971, with its characteristic white cap. With the twin towers on Taunusanlage, built between 1979 and 1984 and soon nicknamed "Debit and Credit", Deutsche Bank continued to enrich the Frankfurt skyline.
Towards the end of 2007, the Head Office was moved to an interim location, the IBC near Frankfurt's Messe (Trade Fair), while the twin towers are being renovated and modernized up until 2010.
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