IV. 
THE GROSSBANKEN (BIG BANKS) AND 
THEIR RELATION TO COMMERCE AND 
INDUSTRY. 
The general banking business was, until the 70’s 
of the last century, to a large extent in the hands of 
private firms. The economic expansion, however, 
created on the one hand such heavy demands for 
credits of all descriptions and claimed on the 
other hand the public trust in such a measure that, 
broadly speaking, the means and the position of 
private houses were no longer equal to the require 
ments. True, there were, and still are, some 
private bankers who have been able not only to 
hold their own, but to gain in importance and 
influence, notwithstanding the keen and aggres 
sive competition of the big joint stock institutions, 
which have since become the dominating factor 
in the German Banking community. The 
Mendelssohns, Bleichroeders, Delbriicks, War 
burgs, and a few more, may be regarded as