Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) wants to honor private banker Friedrich von Metzler, who died a year ago, this Monday. At celebrations at Frankfurt’s Paulskirche starting at 6 p.m., Merz will give a memorial speech about Metzler’s former personal banking partner.
Mayor Mike Josef (SPD) also wanted to commemorate the honorary citizens of the city of Frankfurt in his speech. The journalist association “Group 20+1” also wants to posthumously award Friedrich von Metzler as “European Banker” for his life’s work.
Friedrich von Metzler formed Metzler Bank, which the family has owned since 1674, for more than five decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, von Metzler also played an important role in the transformation of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange into the Deutsche Börse AG.
Von Metzler earned respect outside the financial world with his work as a patron. He committed himself to Frankfurt with large donations and left his mark, for example on the Städel and Senckenberg Museums. Von Metzler died on November 17, 2024 at the age of 81.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251117-930-301402/1
