Abs, Hermann Josef

▪ 1995

      German banker (b. Oct. 15, 1901, Bonn, Germany—d. Feb. 5, 1994, Bad Soden, Germany), was a dominant figure in the West German "economic miracle" following World War II, most notably in his role as deputy supervisory board chairman (1948-57) of the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Credit Institute for Reconstruction) and then as spokesman for the managing board (1957-67), chairman of the supervisory board (1967-76), and honorary chairman (1976-94) of the powerful Deutsche Bank. Abs studied law for a year before obtaining a post with a merchant bank in 1929. He worked and studied international banking in Germany, France, Britain, and the U.S. until 1938, when he joined the managing board of the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. Abs, a devout Roman Catholic, never became a member of the National Socialist Party, and this, along with his close personal association with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, quickly gained him a central role in the nation's postwar economic redevelopment. While with the Kreditanstalt, Abs supervised the distribution of Marshall Plan funds to West German industry, and in 1951-53 he led the delegation that renegotiated national war debts. When the Deutsche Bank reopened in Frankfurt in 1957, Abs took control of the new board. He also served successfully on the boards of more than two dozen companies until a 1965 law (unofficially dubbed the Abs law) limited the number of corporate chairmanships an individual could hold simultaneously.

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