Collage of a portrait by Stefan Wintels with a photograph by Hermann Josef Abs from the Historical KfW Archives — 75 years of KfW

75 years of KfW

Impressions of KfW's history

Reading time: 8 min

On 18 November 1948 the Law Concerning KfW entered into force - the birth hour of KfW. KfW Group has always acted like a mirror, reflecting German and international events. Our photo gallery will guide you through the high points and turning points between 1948 and 2023.

High points and turning points at KfW, 1948–2018 — 18 November 1948 - The Law Concerning KfW enacted on 5 November enters into force 13 days later. Its main objective: to restore the German economy to a position of strength.

KfW anniversary timeline number 50 — 1950 - During the years of reconstruction (1949–1953), 50 per cent of the volume of lending goes to electricity producers, the coal mining sector and the steel industry.

null — 1961 - The Law Concerning KfW is amended, with the bank receiving a new mission abroad – development cooperation.

Palmgartenstrasse — 1968 - KfW moves into its present headquarters at Palmengartenstrasse 5–9 in Frankfurt am Main.

KfW anniversary timeline — 1971 - Small businesses receive the kind of support that only large companies have enjoyed: The “M Programme” strengthens SMEs in terms of investment and innovation.

The DEG Headquarter in Cologne — 2001 - All in for growth! KfW acquires DEG in Cologne.

Office building of KfW's Bonn branch — 2003 - DtA (Federal SME Bank) is merged into KfW by a resolution of the Bundestag and Bundesrat. The Bonn location becomes a branch of KfW. The number of employees rises to more than 3,300 (immediately after German reunification, KfW had fewer than 1,000 staff).

Students in a lecture hall — 2006 - KfW’s student loan is a success story for Germany as an education hub. More than 320,000 students have taken advantage of this opportunity since the programme came into being. On average, each of them receives 500 euros a month during their higher education.

West arcade KfW — 2008 - The new subsidiary, KfW IPEX-Bank, operates in the market with legal autonomy – and makes an important contribution to KfW’s international reputation.

Konjunktur Tour 2010 — 2010 - The economic recovery is only slow since the banking crisis. KfW’s successfully implements its special programme as part of the Federal Government’s economic stimulus packages in 2009 and 2010 which aim to prevent a credit crunch. This particularly involves the promotional bank helping SMEs. During the Economy on Tour campaign, employees travel across the country in a coach to inform companies about the opportunities available to them. This is a success: By the end of 2010, a total of 5,000 applications are approved for more than 13.3 billion euros, securing 1.2 million jobs.

iSimangaliso Wetland Park — 2013 - KfW Group’s foundation, KfW Stiftung, starts its work. It is intended to guarantee, sustain and raise public awareness of KfW’s social engagement, irrespective of the bank’s earnings performance. The foundation supports biodiversity conservation in one of its four focus areas.

Wind generator — 2014 - KfW has been issuing green bonds since mid-2014. These offer investors the opportunity to specifically combine security and liquidity with the promotion of environmental protection and climate change mitigation. By issuing and investing in green bonds, KfW is strengthening the growing market for ecological investments as a whole.

Contact plant at Aurubis in Hamburg, in which the extracted heat is generated — 2017 - The SME business unit plays an increasingly important role in KfW’s domestic promotional business. The volume of business – some 22 billion euros – reflects the high demand for investment loans for energy efficiency, digitalisation, innovation and start-ups. KfW Group’s total volume of business amounts to 76.5 billion euros in 2017.

2019 - As one of the world's leading promotional banks, KfW supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for environmentally, economically and socially sustainable development. These efforts reinforce the bank's claim to be a pioneer in shaping the transformation towards a better, more climate-friendly and more sustainable world.

Chart of KfW corona aids at the skyscraper — 2020 - Since the beginning of the global pandemic, KfW has disbursed more than EUR 50.9 billion in Germany and abroad for special Coronavirus measures implemented at short notice to cushion the economic consequences.

Robot and man — 2021 - The Federal Government is providing an additional EUR 10 billion for an investment fund for future technologies ("Future Fund") via KfW/KfW Capital. Start-ups in the growth phase with high capital requirements will benefit from this in particular.

Change at KfW CEO from Dr Günther Bräunig to Stefan Wintels in the presence of Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz — 2021 - In the presence of the current Chairman of the KfW Board of Supervisory Directors and later Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the ceremonial handover of the baton from Dr Günther Bräunig to Stefan Wintels, who took over as CEO of KfW's Executive Board on 30 September 2021.

photo collage: river in the rainforest (left) and children learning with computers (rights) — 2023 - The transformation to a sustainable and resilient Germany has begun. KfW has been supporting the changes in the economy and society on behalf of the federal and state governments since 1948.

2019 - As one of the world's leading promotional banks, KfW supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for environmentally, economically and socially sustainable development. These efforts reinforce the bank's claim to be a pioneer in shaping the transformation towards a better, more climate-friendly and more sustainable world.

18 November 1948

The Law Concerning KfW enacted on 5 November enters into force 13 days later. Its main objective: to restore the German economy to a position of strength.

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(40 Pictures)

Further information about the history of KfW

Published on KfW Stories: 30 January 2023.

Image-Reference

On our website, pictures taken, among others, by the following photographers/photo agencies are used:

Agentur photothek.net, Deutsche Messe Hannover, Andreas Arnold, Jörg Böthling, Dominik Butzmann, Carsten Costard, Susanne Esche, Charlie Fawell, Rendel Freude, Torsten George, Gaby Gerster, David Greedy, Peter Himsel, Barbara Högner, Frank Homann, Fred Hoogervorst, Steffen Jagenburg (BRANSCH EUROPE), Thomas Klewar, Studio Kohlmeier , Florian Kopp, Georg Lopata, Jürgen Lösel, Kirsten Milhahn, Rüdiger Nehmzow, Rolf Obertreis, Rubén Arnaldo Farina Ortiz, Holger Peters, Joachim Röttgers, Mika Schmidt, Bernhard Schurian, Jens Steingässer, Pietro Sutera, Uwe Tölle, Jan Zappner.

Fotolia.com: amandare, Yuri Arcurs, Kitch Bain, Ingo Bartussek, Sergio Donà, drizzd, Dmitry Ersler, eyewave, Zoltán Futó, Eric Gevaert, Fotolia XXV, Friedberg, goodluz, Dirk Hoffmann, imageteam, Christian Jung, Abdelhamid Kalai, Sergej Khakimullin, Vladimir Kolobov, krizz7, Kzenon, lumen-digital, marog-pixcells, Mindwalker, Miredi, mirpic, Nebuto, Tino Neitz, Christian Pedant, Franz Pfluegl, prognone, Gina Sanders, Henry Schmitt, spree berlin, SVLuma, Kheng Guan Toh, tom, Torbz, typomaniac, VRD, Joachim Wendler, Sreedhar Yedlapati.

75yearsOfKfWsocietysocial cohesioneconomyenvironmentDEGKfW IPEX-BankKfW Development BankKfW CapitalKfW Stiftung

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Impressions of KfW's history

18 November 1948

Image-Reference

Data protection principles

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