The following list of banks in Germany is to be understood within the framework of the European single market and European banking union, which means that Germany's banking system is more open to cross-border banking operations than peers outside of the EU.
Context
Historical background
Germany stands out for the uniquely extensive development of its public banking sector,[6] whose origins can be traced back to the late 18th century and which acquired some of its current features with the development of savings banks during the 19th century.[7] Germany was also where a cooperative banking sector flourished first under leaders such as Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch and Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen.[8] Starting in the 1850s, joint-stock banks took momentum in various German states and developed rapidly into so-called Grossbanken, universal banks with connections with numerous industrial ventures forming loose conglomerates.
As a result, the banking sector in Germany has long been described of consisting of three "pillars", respectively public-sector banks, cooperative banks, and commercial banks - the latter including the Grossbanken and other joint-stock banks sometimes referred to as regional banks (Regionalbanken), as well as non-listed private banks (Privatbanken).
Significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the ECB had the following 27 banking groups based in Germany in its list of significant institutions.[13] 11 of the 27 belonged to the two German IPSs, and 7 were German affiliates of global banking groups headquartered outside of the EU:
A study published in 2024 assessed that the largest bank by assets in Germany (as opposed to total consolidated assets) at end-2023 was Deutsche Bank (€1.1 trillion, including Postbank and Norisbank) followed by DZ Bank (€619 bn), Commerzbank (€460 bn), J.P. Morgan (€421 bn), LBBW (€333 bn), Goldman Sachs (€291 bn), UniCredit (€283 bn), BayernLB (€273 bn), Helaba (€202 bn), ING (€169 bn), Morgan Stanley (€107 bn), NORD/LB (€104 bn), and DekaBank (€85 bn).[15] Deutsche Bank has been consistently designated as Global systemically important bank (G-SIB) by the Financial Stability Board, including in the update of November 2025.[16]
Less significant institutions
As of 2025-9-1, the ECB's list of supervised institutions included 1,145 German LSIs out of 2,062 in the euro area, or 55.6 percent of the euro-area total.[13]
High-impact LSIs
Of these, 27 were designated by the ECB as "high-impact" on the basis of several criteria including size, including 4 in the cooperative IPSs and 12 in the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe IPS:
Of the above, Eurex Clearing AG meets the criteria for SI designation, but has been classified by the ECB as a LSI by special derogation together with a handful of other financial market infrastructures.[13]
The following European, national and sub-national public public credit institutions are based in Germany but do not hold a banking license under EU law (Capital Requirements Directives) and are therefore outside the remit of European banking supervision:<re[20]
European level
European Central Bank in Frankfurt, an EU institution
Selected former German banks are listed below in chronological order of establishment, divided into three categories.
Former central banks & banks of issue
The Hamburger Bank had attributes of a central bank despite not issuing its own paper money.<re[21] In the 19th century, Germany's political fragmentation led to the establishment of numerous banks of issue until monetary unification in the 1870s. Even after that, multiple banks kept their issuance privilege until the Reichsbank eventually acquired a monopoly in 1935.
The Oldenburgische Landesbank was a private bank of issue from establishment in 1868 until end-1875.The Deutsche Golddiskontbank (1924-1945) and Liquidity Consortium Bank (1974-2015) had purposes related with monetary policy even though they were not themselves money-issuing or central banks.
These pillars are still represented by separate trade bodies — respectively the VÖB, BVR and BdB — and rely on separate deposit guarantee schemes unlike in most other EU countries where a single scheme covers all deposits.
Policy framework
European banking supervision distinguishes between significant institutions (SIs) and less significant institutions (LSIs), with SI/LSI designations updated regularly by the European Central Bank (ECB).Significant institutions are directly supervised by the ECB using joint supervisory teams that involve the national competent authorities (NCAs) of individual participating countries.Less significant institutions are supervised by the relevant NCA on a day-to-day basis, under the supervisory oversight of the ECB.[9] In Germany's case, the NCA is the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, known by the German shorthand BaFin.[10]
The EU framework provides for the possibility of institutional protection scheme that bind together networks of local banks into idiosyncratic risk-sharing arrangements.[11] Of the EU's eight IPSs as of 2022,[12] two are in Germany, namely the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (SFG) and German Cooperative Financial Group. The latter corresponds exactly to the cooperative pillar of the German banking system, whereas the SFG is only a subgroup of the public-sector pillar which also includes public development banks (Förderbanken).
This ranking includes euro area banks based outside Germany that operate in Germany via subsidiaries, such as UniCredit via HypoVereinsbank and ING via ING DiBa.Other cases are Santander via Santander Consumer Bank Germany, Crédit Mutuel via Targobank, as well as ABN AMRO, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, and Société Générale.[13] The ranking, however, does not feature banking groups that operate in Germany through branches and do not disclose the corresponding national branch assets, such as BNP Paribas whose branch operates its German brands Consorsbank and DAB BNP Paribas,[17] or HSBC which operates in Germany through Paris-based HSBC Continental Europe.The ranking also does not take into account consolidated figures for the two German IPSs: also at end-2023, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe disclosed combined total German assets of €2.5 trillion euros,[18] and the Cooperative Financial Group disclosed consolidated assets of €1.6 trillion.[19] Considered as banking groups, the SFG and Cooperative Financial Group therefore qualify as the two largest in Germany.
Atlantic Lux HoldCo Sàrl, Luxembourg holding entity of Aareal Bank
Bayerische Landesbank (also known as BayernLB, SFG IPS)
Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG, one of two intermediate parent undertakings of Citigroup in the EU
In addition to the above-listed 8 SIs and 12 high-impact LSIs, the ECB list included 336 LSIs (334 credit institutions and 2 financial holding companies) that were members of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe IPS. Among these, the following ones are specifically documented on Wikipedia in English:
In addition to the above-listed 3 SIs and 4 high-impact LSIs, the ECB list also included 653 entities (652 credit institutions and one financial holding company) that were members of the German Cooperative Financial Group IPS. Among these, the following ones are specifically documented on Wikipedia in English:
Based on the same ECB list, the following 35 LSIs were controlled by financial groups based outside the euro area. They include 22 subsidiaries, and 13 branches of banks based in the European Economic Area (EEA) but outside of the euro area.
Other defunct banks headquartered in present-day German territory
Several of these banks came to an end in 1945 when the Soviet Forces in Germany decided to terminate existing banking activity in their occupation zone.
Defunct German banks headquartered outside present-day Germany
This list includes former banks of issue as well as commercial banks, in the former eastern territories of Germany and its temporary conquests during World War I and World War II.
Schlesische Landschaft (1770-1945)
Pommersche Landschaft (1781-1945)
Ritterschaftliche Privatbank in Pommern (1824-1877), bank of issue until end-1875<re[22]
Wm. Schlutow (1832-1934)
Städtische Bank in Breslau (1848-1910), bank of issue until end-1893
Schlesischer Bankverein (1856-1917)
Provinzial-Aktienbank des Großherzogtums Posen (1857-1929), bank of issue until end-1890, from 1898 named Ostbank für Handel und Gewerbe with bank-of-issue role revived 1916-1918 as Darlehnskasse Ost
Darlehnskasse Ost under direct military administration (1918-1922)
Polish National Loan Bank (1916-1924), under German control until late 1918
