Dr. h.c. Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim,
our bank’s patriarchal figurehead, passed
away on 5 January 2005 at the age of 71.

As a direct successor to the bank’s founder, Salomon Oppenheim, Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim was born into the sixth generation of a private banking tradition. This family legacy marked the course of his life, making it inconceivable for him to pursue any other career than that of a banker. His studies at Amherst College and Harvard Business School in the US were followed by initial practical experiences at a number of financial institutions such as S. G. Warburg and the Royal Bank of Canada. In 1964, Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim became a personally liable partner at the Bank. He felt it his task, during his 40-year tenure, to lay the foundations for sustaining the independence of the Bank in the long term. In his opinion, the key pre-requisites for maintaining this independence were the closeness of the family and the Bank’s entrepreneurial flair with regard to sensing market developments.

As a young partner, Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim established the securities business as the second pillar of the Bank’s business, alongside lending activities. The investment needs of both the Colonia group, which was majority owned by Sal. Oppenheim, and the German insurance industry as a whole, had grown consistently since the 1960s. It was Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim’s idea to react to this development by venturing into institutional asset management as a new business area. This led to the establishment of the investment companies Oppenheim Kapitalanlagegesellschaft and Rheinische Kapitalanlagegesellschaft in 1971. The outsourcing of financial analysis activities to an independent company, the present-day Oppenheim Research GmbH, was a move equally as far-sighted.

Under the management of Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim, the Bank realised one of the most significant turning points in its history. In 1989, it sold its majority stake in the Colonia insurance group. At the time, this was the largest corporate disposal in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The proceeds formed the foundation for the Bank’s long-term growth and guaranteed its competitiveness. The substantial reinforcement of the Bank’s equity base was followed by a fundamental restructuring process similar to a “revolution from above”, as Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim put it himself. Thanks to Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim’s initiative, Sal. Oppenheim started to evolve from a traditional full-service bank into an integrated asset management and investment bank. From his position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the Shareholders’ Committee, which he occupied from the time of his departure from management in 1993, he spent the past ten years developing and supporting this comprehensive transformation process. The acquisition of BHF-BANK at the close of 2004, which promoted the Sal. Oppenheim Group to the largest private bank in Europe, represents the crowning achievement of his life work. “This acquisition not only means an enormous expansion of our Group-wide business volumes, but also a further strengthening of both our position in the banking sector and our independence. We are delighted to be able to reintroduce such a traditional and revered financial institution into the private banking landscape,” said Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim upon the signing of the purchase agreement on 2 December 2004 in Frankfurt am Main. In parallel to the restructuring process, he was also far-sighted enough to prepare the Bank for its transfer to the next generation, in order to guarantee that the future Bank remained a family-run entity in the 21st century. Matthias Graf von Krockow was appointed spokesman for the Bank in 1998, while his son Christopher Freiherr von Oppenheim became a personally liable partner in the year 2000.

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Alongside his contribution to the Bank, the public good was also a priority for Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim. He was particularly interested in the crossing point between economics and politics. He was, for example, the President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Cologne up until his death, and Vice-President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. As member of a number of supervisory boards, e.g. AXA S.A. and RWE Power AG, his involvement in the field of economics went beyond the activities of the Bank.

Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim was one of the select few to embody the global tradition of the banking profession. He considered himself a trans-Atlantic European, and set great store by Franco-German friendship. In his own way, he carried on the work of this father, Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Oppenheim, who made political reconciliation with France his business in the immediate post-war period. He was the President of the Franco- German Chamber of Industry and Commerce for almost two decades and also set examples in the world of culture by supporting the German Forum for Art History in Paris, which has become a first-class venue for cultural exchange. The French Republic honoured his commitment by awarding him the insignia of the Commander of the Legion of Honour. He was made an Honorary Doctor by Sorbonne University and was also involved in promoting international understanding at a number of other institutions, most recently as the President of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin.

Finally, Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim established several foundations and was a generous patron. In 1989, the Bank’s bicentennial year, he established the Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim Foundation, as well as the Bank’s Salomon Oppenheim Foundation. These two institutions have since backed a number of projects, especially in arts and humanities. One example would be the establishment, in 1997, of the Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Oppenheim chair for research into racism, anti-Semitism and the holocaust at the Yad Vashem museum and research centre in Jerusalem. Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim also supported many cultural institutions in Germany and Cologne in both word and deed, such as the Wallraf Richartz Museum, for which he served as the Chairman of the friends and patrons for many years. He supported the activities of the University of Cologne in research, teaching and promoting new talent, and in October 2004 was awarded the rare title of Honorary Senator.

Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim was an entrepreneur with all his heart. He was distinguished by his energy, clear judgement, strategic thinking and a keen sense of proper timing. Under his management, the Bank was transformed as never before in its history of more than 200 years. As the integrating force between two generations, he was without a doubt the role model for the entire Oppenheim family. His sudden death, wrenching him from such an active life, leaves behind a gap that will be hard to fill. Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim was always more concerned about his sense of responsibility towards a greater goal than he was about himself . He saw his role as one of the architects of the Oppenheim Bank, leaving behind a firm basis and a stable structure. The Bank’s partners, shareholders and employees owe him their utmost gratitude for this. His life’s work represents an incentive and duty for all of us, and one which we will never forget.

Last year, the enthusiastic sailor and poetry lover marked the following passage from “Ulysses”, by the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. The dying Ulysses extends a final message to his sailors from his deathbed. The closing lines read as follows:

“Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

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The life work of Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim 

Economics and Politics

• Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Industrie- und Handelskammer – IHK), Cologne (from 1974)
• Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag), Berlin (from 1999)
• Franco-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Deutsch-Französische Industrie- und Handelskammer), Berlin/Paris (from 1987)
• German Council on Foreign Relations (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik), Berlin (from 1987)

Academia

• Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim Foundation (established 1989)
• Salomon Oppenheim Foundation for the promotion of the sciences (established 1989)
• Friedrich Carl Freiherr von Oppenheim chair for racism, anti-Semitism and holocaust research at Yad Vashem (established 1997)
• Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Cologne (1999–2004)

Culture

• German Forum for Art History (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte), Paris (established 1997)
• Association of the Friends of Prussian Palaces and Gardens (Freunde der Preußischen Schlösser und Gärten), Berlin (from 1994)
• Association of the Friends of the Wallraf Richartz Museum and Museum Ludwig (Freunde des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums und des Museums Ludwig e.V.), Cologne (from 1981)
• Association of the Friends of Bayreuth (Gesellschaft der Freunde von Bayreuth), Bayreuth (from 1979)

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