Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank

The Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechsel-Bank was founded by law of 1 July 1834 on the initiative of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, following discussions going back to 1818.

While established as a stock corporation, it was under tight government supervision and its commercial business was initially limited to mortgages.

[1] The Hypo-Bank was shaken by hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic in 1921–1923, when it had to sell Bayerische Versicherungsbank to Allianz, but was able to rebuild balance sheet strength in the later 1920s.

During the Nazi era, the Hypo-Bank, which had a large Jewish customer base, was initially reluctant to display enthusiasm for the regime but had to implement the official aryanization policy from 1938.

[citation needed] It expanded beyond Bavaria in the 1960s, then internationally, until overextending its risk-taking in commercial property lending and merging with its longstanding rival Bayerische Vereinsbank in 1998.