The first home of Deutsche Rück at Hamburger Feuerkasse, at the address “Kurze Mühren” in Hamburg

Starting as a Subtenant

Deutsche Rück began as a subtenant of Hamburger Feuerkasse. At the time, a handful of employees operated the reinsurance business from two offices – and at the same time also handling the association work of the public-law fire insurance institutions.

Brass plaque of Hamburger Feuerkasse

Deutsche Rück made an impressive start: In its very first financial year, the new company generated gross premium income of 21.2 million Deutsche Mark, nearly doubling the previous turnover of the provisional reinsurance association.

The Beetle as a symbol of the economic miracle in Germany: By the end of 1953, the Beetle was already being exported to 88 countries. Production reaches one record after another: In 1957, two million Beetles were produced, rising to three million by 1959. Even into the 1970s, the two members of the Deutsche Rück management board regularly came to the office in a private VW Beetle together – even though they were officially entitled to a company Opel.

Growth Follows the Construction Boom

In step with its shareholders, the public insurers, Deutsche Rück also grew strongly in the years that followed. The country, still in ruins, had to be rebuilt. As a result, the construction industry in particular flourished during the early years of the economic miracle in the young Federal Republic of Germany. Public insurers also benefited significantly from this boom in their core business, property insurance.

In the 1950s, the Federal Republic experienced a construction boom.

The first dedicated office building

The premises at Hamburger Feuerkasse soon became too small for Deutsche Rück. As early as the end of 1952, it therefore purchased a plot of land with war-damaged ruins on Magdalenenstraße, near Hamburg’s Outer Alster. There, it commissioned the construction of a “practical office building” in the understated, elegant style of the 1950s. After just 18 months of construction, staff were able to move in. Deutsche Rück now had its first permanent home.

The premises of Deutsche Rück near Hamburg’s “Außenalster”

Deutsche Rück’s first dedicated premises were built in the prestigious Hamburg district of Harvestehude. Featuring typical elements of what is now once again a highly popular Mid-Century Modern style. The interior design reflected the spirit of the time: A move away from the heaviness of the pre-war period towards greater lightness.

The staircase with its characteristic 1950s interior