GROSSBANKEN.

103

De  Bary  &  Co.,  Antwerp.  In  1895,  the  Bank  of
Chili  and  Germany  was  founded,  with  a  capital
of  £500,000,  under  its  auspices  ;  whilst  in  a  number
of  other  banking  institutions  and  industrial  undertakings ­
  abroad,  in  Italy,  Belgium,  Roumania,
Bulgaria,  and  Africa,  the  Disconto  Gesellschaft
acquired  a  more  or  less  considerable  interest.
Not  until  1900,  however,  did  it  open  a  branch  in
London,  and  as  far  as  its  domestic  business  was
concerned  it  adhered  to  the  principle  of  centralisation ­
  till  1903,  when  it  started  in  Bremen,  and  in
1904  in  Frankfurt  a/M.,  by  taking  over  the
Rothschild  firm.  The  other  big  German  banks,
though  interested  in  some  institutions  abroad,
have  no  branches  of  their  own  in  foreign  countries,
but  with  the  exception  of  the  Berliner  Handelsgesellschaft
  and  the  National  Bank  for  Germany,
they  have  all  developed  an  extensive  branch
system  in  Germany,  not  only  by  opening  offices  in
provincial  towns,  but  also  by  starting  numerous
branches  (so-called  Depositenkassen)  both  in  Berlin
and  other  places,  with  a  view  to  facilitate  personal
intercourse  with  clients  in  the  different  districts
and  to  attract  deposits.  Furthermore  the
majority  of  the  big  banks  have  affiliated  to  themselves ­
  numerous  provincial  institutions,  thus  :—
The  Deutsche  Bank  controls  the  Bergisch-Markische
  Bank  in  Elberfeld,  Schlesischer  Bank-