This article is about football stadium sponsored by Allianz. For the stadium in Sydney known commercially as Allianz Stadium, see Sydney Football Stadium.

Allianz Arena
Fußball Arena München (during UEFA-organised games)
Former names	FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich (during the 2006 FIFA World Cup)
Location	Munich, Germany
Broke ground	October 21, 2002
Opened	May 30, 2005
Owner	Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH
Operator	Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH
Surface	Grass Pitch
Construction cost	€ 340 million
Architect	Herzog & de Meuron ArupSport
Structural engineer	Ove Arup & Partners
Capacity	69,901 (League Matches), 66,000 (International Matches)
Executive Suites	106
Field dimensions	105m x 68m
Website	Official Website
Tenants
FC Bayern Munich TSV 1860 München

The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at the Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972, where FC Bayern Munich played all of their games and TSV 1860 München most of their games. The Allianz Arena is the third biggest stadium in Germany behind Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund and the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

The large financial services provider Allianz purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup it was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich. Near Allianz Arena, Fröttmaning U-Bahn station, on U6 can be seen.

The stadium was the venue for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.^[1]

Stadium specifics[link]

Allianz Arena is lit up in red when Bayern Munich plays, in blue when 1860 Munich plays, and in white when in use by the German National Team.

Illumination during the UEFA Champions League final 2011–12.

Allianz Arena at playing level.

Allianz Arena under construction (August 2004).

The stadium is located at the northern edge of Munich's borough of Schwabing on the Fröttmaning Heath. It is the first stadium in the world that has a full changing color outside.

Capacity[link]

Effective with the city's approval of modifications that was granted January 16, 2006, the legal capacity of the stadium has increased from 66,000 to 69,901 spectators (including standing room). The lower tier can seat up to 20,000, the middle tier up to 24,000, and the upper tier up to 22,000. 10,400 of the seats in the lower tier corners can be converted to standing room to allow an additional 3,120 spectators. The total capacity includes 2,000 business seats, 400 seats for the press, 106 luxury boxes with seating for up to 174, and 165 berths for wheelchairs and the like. From the second half of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season, the arena is able to accommodate 69,901 spectators at league and German Cup games, but because of UEFA regulations, the capacity remains at 66,000 seats for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup games. Bayern Munich has limited capacity during their league and cup games to 69,000. The partial roof covers all seats, although winds can still blow rain onto some of them.

Allianz Arena also offers three day-care centers and two fan shops, the FC Bayern Munich Megastore and the TSV 1860 München Allianz Arena Megastore. Merchandise is offered at stands all along the inside of the exterior wall inside the area behind the seats. Numerous restaurants and fast-food establishments are also located around the stadium.

There are four team locker rooms (one each for the two home teams and their respective opponents), four coaches' locker rooms, and two locker rooms for referees. Two areas are provided where athletes can warm up (approx. 110 m² each). There are also 550 toilets and 190 monitors in the arena.

Allianz Arena

Allianz Arena

Construction[link]

• Total concrete used during stadium construction: 120,000 m³
• Total concrete used for the parking garage: 85,000 m³
• Total steel used during stadium construction: 22,000 tonnes
• Total steel used for the parking garage: 14,000 tonnes

The arena facade is constructed of 2,874 ETFE-foil air panels that are kept inflated with dry air to a differential pressure of 0.038 hPa. The panels appear white from far away but when examined closely, there are little dots on the panels. When viewed from far away, the eye combines the dots and sees white. When viewed close up however, it is possible to see through the foil. The foil has a thickness of 0.2 mm. Each panel can be independently lit with white, red, or blue light. The intention is to light the panels at each game with the colors of the respective home team, or white if the home team is the German national football team or on a neutral venue like the 2012 Final of UEFA Champions League. Other colours and / or multicolor and / or interchanging lighting schemes are possible indeed, but Munich Police strongly insists on uni-color only due to several car accidents on the nearby autobahn A9 with drivers being distracted by the changing lights. (In the US, a similar scheme is used for MetLife Stadium, which lights up in blue for the Giants, green for the Jets, and red for a concert.)

With electricity costs for the light of about 50 Euros (75 USD) per hour only, the construction evolves such luminosity that in clear nights the stadium can easily be spotted even from Austrian mountain tops, e.g. from a distance of 50 miles (80 km). Roller blinds installed under the roof may be drawn during games to provide protection from the sun.

Allianz Arena with the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, the oldest church of Munich.

Transport[link]

Patrons may park their cars in Europe's largest parking structure, comprising four four-story parking garages with 9,800 parking places. In addition, 1,200 places were built into the first two tiers of the arena, 350 places are available for buses (240 at the north end, and 110 at the south entrance), and 130 more spots are reserved for those with disabilities.

The stadium is located next to the Fröttmaning U-Bahn station. This is on the U6 line of the Munich U-Bahn.

Surroundings[link]

From the subway station just south of the arena, visitors approach the stadium through a park that was designed to disentangle and guide them to the entrance. An esplanade rises gradually from ground level at the subway station entrance, practically building the parking garage's cover, to the entrance level of the stadium. On the other side of the Autobahn, the Fröttmaning Hill with its windmill affords a marvellous view on the stadium. Also the Romanesque Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, the oldest structure on the area of the City of Munich designed to serve religious purposes, is located there together with its copy, an artwork in concrete as a reminder for the village of Fröttmaning which disappeared with the construction of the Autobahn.

A view from the south.

Owners[link]

The arena was commissioned by the Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH, founded in 2001, and was owned in equal parts by the two football clubs that call it home. The GmbH's CEO was Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Jr. until the unraveling of the stadium corruption affair (see below). Since then, Bernd Rauch, Peter Kerspe, and Walter Leidecker have led the company. In April 2006, FC Bayern Munich bought out TSV 1860 München's 50% share in the arena for a reported 11 million Euros. 1860's managing director Stefan Ziffzer stated that the deal prevented insolvency for the club. The terms of the agreement gave 1860 the right to buy back their 50% share of the arena for the price of sale plus interest anytime before June 2010. In November 2007, TSV 1860 München resigned that right. In advance, the income of two friendly-games both clubs shared equally instead of having that money going to Allianz Arena GmbH. Due to financial turbulences of TSV 1860 München, FC Bayern Munich took over all the shares and now owns 100% of the Allianz Arena.

Name[link]

Allianz paid significant sums for the right to lend its name to the stadium for a duration of 30 years. However, as Allianz wasn't a sponsor of the 2006 World Cup and is not an official UEFA sponsor, the Alllianz logo had to be removed during the World Cup and is covered during Champions League games.

Cost[link]

The cost of the construction itself ran to €286 million but financing costs raised that figure to a total of €340 million. In addition, the city and State incurred approximately €210 million for area development and infrastructure improvements.

Reactions[link]

Aerial photo of Allianz Arena with surrounding area shortly before construction was complete (January 2005).

On November 14, 2005 at the annual general meeting, many FC Bayern Munich club members complained about the uncomfortable draft inside the arena. As a result, closable doors were installed and spectators now enjoy watching the games in greater comfort.

The Ultras and many other fans protested at several home games against the seats and some of the rules of the arena which they perceive as "fan unfriendly". For example, a spectator may not enter with a megaphone or a pennant that a single person cannot carry unfurled, and pennant poles with a length of over one metre are prohibited. The complaint is that these rules and the designer seats put a damper on the fan experience. The presence of a large fence and safety nets in front of the southern curve (seat bloc reserved for fans of the FC Bayern Munich) are also often criticized.

These complaints have had some success. From the 2006–07, season blocks 112 and 113 have been converted into terracing, in the usual German style so that seats can be installed for UEFA and international matches, whose regulations demand seating for all spectators.

In reaction to the heavy commercialisation that followed the rejection of the Ultra movement in the media, and some other actions of the FC Bayern Munich football club, the stadium has sometimes been dubbed Arroganz Arena ("Arrogance Arena").

History[link]

Seating area of the Allianz Arena.

On October 21, 2002 voters went to the polls to determine whether a new stadium should be built in this location and whether the city of Munich should provide the necessary infrastructure. About two thirds of the voters decided in favor of the proposition. An alternative to constructing the new arena had been a major reconstruction of the Olympic Stadium but this option had been refused by its architect Günther Behnisch.

The Swiss architect firm of Herzog & de Meuron then developed the concept of the stadium with a see-through exterior made of ETFE-foil panels, that can be lit from the inside and are self-cleaning. Construction started in the autumn of 2002 and was completed by the end of April 2005.

The Fröttmaning and Marienplatz stations of the subway line U6 were expanded and improved in conjunction with the arena construction. The Fröttmaning subway station was expanded from two to four tracks, while the Marienplatz U-Bahn station was outfitted with additional pedestrian connector tunnels running parallel to the subway tracks, which lead towards the S-Bahn portion of the station, lessening congestion among passengers making connections to the Munich S-Bahn. To be able to handle the additional traffic load, the Autobahn A9 was expanded to three and four lanes going each way and another exit was added to the A99 north of the arena.

On 19 May 2012, the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League final was held at the Allianz Arena. Bayern Munich, who was drawn as home team, was set to play against Chelsea. Chelsea won on penalties after the game had tied 1–1 after regulation and extra time. Bastian Schweinsteiger's penalty hit Petr Cech's left post, and Didier Drogba swept home the winning penalty.

Stadium corruption affair[link]

Since March 2004, a corruption affair relating to the stadium has occupied the football world and German courts. On March 9, Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Sr., president of the TSV 1860 München, his son Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Jr., chief executive officer of Allianz Arena München Stadion GmbH, and two others were charged with corruption in connection with the award of arena construction contracts and taken into custody. On March 12, 2004, Wildmoser, Sr. struck a plea bargain and was released. As part of the plea bargain, he relinquished the presidency of the club three days later, and on May 18, the investigation into his conduct was closed.

His son, Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Jr., remained in custody. At a bail hearing on June 29, the judge refused bail on the grounds of danger of flight and obstruction of justice. The District Attorney filed charges on August 23, 2004, accusing him of fraud, corruption and tax evasion. The case was that Wildmoser, Jr. had awarded the construction contract at an inflated price, provided the Austrian builder Alpine with inside information that enabled the builder to win the contract, and in return received €2.8 million.

On May 13, 2005, Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, Jr. was convicted and sentenced by a Munich court to four and a half years in prison. He was released on bail pending his appeal. The Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeal in August 2006.

Opening day[link]

Test illumination in March 2005

On May 30, 2005, TSV 1860 München played an exhibition game against 1. FC Nuremberg. The next day the record German champions Bayern Munich played a game against the German national team. Both games had been sold out since early March 2005. Patrick Milchraum of TSV 1860 scored the first official goal at the stadium.

On June 2, in response to high demand, the first "arena derby" took place between the two owners. That game was won by TSV 1860 with the help of a goal by Paul Agostino.

Prior to opening day the alumni teams of both clubs played each other in an exhibition game in front of a crowd of 30,000 where all stadium functions were thoroughly tested.

The stadium's first goal in a competitive game went to Owen Hargreaves of FC Bayern when the home team won 3–0 in its 2005–06 Fußball-Bundesliga season opener against Borussia Mönchengladbach on August 5, 2005. The first goal in an official game by a visiting team was scored by Dynamo Dresden on September 9, 2005 in the Second Bundesliga match against TSV 1860 München. That game ended in a score of 1–2 in front of a full house which included approximately 20,000 - 22,000 fans who had traveled to Munich from Dresden for the game. Dresden thus became the first visiting team to win a competitive game at Allianz Arena.

Allianz Arena

The first goal against FC Bayern Munich in a league game at Allianz Arena was scored by Miroslav Klose of SV Werder Bremen on November 5, 2005 in the first minute of play. This was to remain the visitors' only goal that day as the game went to the FC Bayern with a final score of 3–1.

FC Bayern broke its consecutive sell-out record by selling out each of its first ten home games at Allianz Arena.

2006 FIFA World Cup[link]

Inside Allianz Arena during a match between FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München, 10 June 2005.

The stadium was one of the venues for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, due to sponsorship contracts, the arena was called FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich during the World Cup.

The following games were played at the stadium during the World Cup of 2006:

Date	Time (CEST)	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Spectators
9 June 2006	18.00	Germany	4–2	Costa Rica	Group A (opening match)	69,451
14 June 2006	18.00	Tunisia	2–2	Saudi Arabia	Group H	69,451
18 June 2006	18.00	Brazil	2–0	Australia	Group F	69,451
21 June 2006	21.00	Côte d'Ivoire	3–2	Serbia and Montenegro	Group C	69,451
24 June 2006	17.00	Germany	2–0	Sweden	Round of 16	69,451
5 July 2006	21.00	Portugal	0–1	France	Semifinals	69,451

See also[link]

• List of stadiums

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Allianz Arena

• Official website of Allianz Arena Facts and Figures Section provides details like the amount of concrete used, composition of the facade, facade lighting etc.

• Allianz Arena at Structurae
• Seat Plan of the Allianz Arena
• Allianz Arena - video

Coordinates: 48°13′7.59″N 11°37′29.11″E / 48.218775°N 11.6247528°E / 48.218775; 11.6247528

 Allianz (help·info) SE^[2] (formerly Allianz AG) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core business and focus is insurance. As of 2010, it was the world's 12th-largest financial services group and 23rd-largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine.^[3]

Its Allianz Global Investors division ranks as a top-five global active investment manager, having €1,443 billion of assets under management (AuM), of which €1,131 billion are third-party assets (as of 2010-09-30), with specialized asset managers such as PIMCO (Bond fund), RCM (Equity fund), Degi (Real estate fund), etc.

Allianz sold Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank in November 2008.^[4] As a result of this merger, Allianz gained a 14% controlling stake in the new Commerzbank Group.

History[link]

Allianz AG was founded in Berlin on 5 February 1890 by Carl von Thieme (a native of Erfurt, whose father was the director of Thuringia) and Wilhelm von Finck (co-owner of the Merck Finck & Co bank).

20th century[link]

The original Allianz logo, designed in 1923 by Karl Schulpig.

Allianz shifted its headquarters to Munich in 1949. The first step to become an international company started with the opening of a branch office in London in the late 19th century. After World War II, global business activities were gradually resumed. Allianz opened an office in Paris in the late 1950s, and a management office for Italy in the 1960s. These expansions were followed in the 1970s by the establishment of business in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil and the United States. In 1986, Allianz acquired Cornhill Insurance PLC, London, and the purchase of a stake in Riunione Adriatica di Sicurità (RAS), Milan, strengthened its presence in Western and Southern Europe in the 1980s. Recently, on February 8, 2006, RAS Shareholders approved the mergers with Allianz.

In 1990, Allianz started an expansion into eight Eastern European countries with establishing a presence in Hungary. In the same decade, Allianz also acquired Fireman’s Fund, an insurer in the United States, which was followed by the purchase of Assurances Generales de France (AGF), Paris. These acquisitions were followed by the expansion into Asia with several joint ventures and acquisitions in China and South Korea and the acquisition of Australia's Manufacturers Mutual Insurance. Around this time Allianz expanded its asset management business as well by purchasing for example asset management companies in California.

21st century[link]

The Allianz building in Alt-Treptow, Berlin, Germany

In April 2001, Allianz agreed to acquire the 80 per cent of Dresdner Bank that it did not already own for US$20 billion.^[5] As part of the transaction, Allianz agreed to sell its 13.5 per cent stake in HypoVereinsbank to Munich Re, and to acquire Munich Re's 40 per cent stake in Allianz Leben.^[5] Following completion of the acquisition, Allianz and Dresdner Bank combined their asset management activities by forming Allianz Global Investors. In 2002, Michael Diekmann succeeded Henning Schulte-Noelle as CEO of Allianz AG. In June 2006, Allianz announced the layoff of 7,280 employees, about 4 percent of its worldwide work force at the time, as part of a restructuring program aimed at raising profitability.^[6] The reductions comprised 5,000 staff at Allianz insurance operations and 2,480 at Dresdner Bank.^[6] In the same month, Allianz announced that its Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein investment banking operation would be renamed as simply Dresdner Kleinwort.^[6]

In September 2005, Allianz announced that it would convert its holding company into a European Company (Societas Europaea), becoming one of the the first major companies to do so.^[7] The conversion was made in conjunction with Allianz's acquisition of 100 per cent control of its principal Italian subsidiary Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà (RAS) for around US$7 billion.^[7] The conversion to an SE was completed on 13 October 2006.^[7] The Allianz Group also simplified its brand strategy from 2006 and their previous emblem was replaced by the current word-picture brand.^[8]

On 31 August 2008, it was announced that Allianz had agreed to sell 60.2 per cent of Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank for €9.8 billion (US$14.4 billion), with an agreement that Commerzbank would acquire the remainder of Dresdner Bank by the end of 2009.^[9] After renegotiations, it was announced in November 2008 that Commerzbank would acquire the 100% ownership of Dresdner Bank earlier (12 January 2009). The sale price was lowered to 5.5 billion Euro. Shortly after that transaction completed, Commerzbank had to be partially nationalized by the German government to prevent it from bankruptcy. Allianz is currently keeping around 14% of Commerzbank shares. The venture into the German banking space is said^{[by whom?]} to have cost the insurance company about 30–35 billion Euro.

Operations[link]

Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 180,000 employees. At the top of the international group is the holding company, Allianz SE, with its head office in Munich. Allianz Group provides its more than 60 million customers worldwide with a comprehensive range of services in the areas of
• property and casualty insurance,
• life and health insurance,
• asset management and banking.

Countries in which Allianz currently has operations.

Australia[link]

Allianz Australia Limited (ABN 21 000 006 226) operates throughout Australia and New Zealand and through its subsidiaries offers a range of insurance and risk management products and services. Subsidiaries of Allianz Australia include Club Marine, Allianz Life and Hunter Premium Funding.

Belgium[link]

Allianz operates through Allianz Belgium, previously AGF Belgium which has been re-branded to Allianz Belgium on 29 November 2007.

Bulgaria[link]

Allianz Bank Bulgaria^[10] is a universal commercial bank having its headquarters in Sofia. It was established in 1997. On October 13, 2003 the bank received the name of its principal shareholder – Allianz Bulgaria Holding. Before that the bank was named ‘Bulgaria Invest’ Commercial Bank. Allianz Bank Bulgaria offers its products in more than hundred branches and offices all over the country, as well as through the broad agents’ network of Allianz Bulgaria Holding.

The bank possesses a full banking license for carrying out banking and financial transactions.

Shareholders The principal shareholders of Allianz Bank Bulgaria are:

-Allianz Bulgaria Holding

-Allianz Bulgaria Ins. Company

-Energy Insurance Company

Canada[link]

Allianz put a sudden halt to its Canadian P&C operation Allianz Canada (market share 2%) in 2004 after several years of unfavorable business results. Allianz originally entered the Canadian market in the early 1990s through an acquisition of several North American insurers, namely the American Firemans Fund and the Canadian Surety. Upon the market exit the personal and commercial lines unit was sold off to the market leader ING Canada (Now Intact), whereas its industrial underwriting branch was bought by Allianz US, which has retained the Toronto office.

Germany[link]

Allianz offers a wide range of general, life and health insurance products in Germany through its Allianz Deutschland AG subsidiary.^[1] It is the market leader in both the general and life insurance markets.^[1]

Allianz products are distributed princiaplly through a network of full-time tied agents.^[1] Since September 2010 Allianz products have also been sold through Commerzbank branches.^[1]

India[link]

In India Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Bajaj Finserv Limited (recently demerged from Bajaj Auto Limited) and Allianz SE.

Bajaj allianz is one of the fastest growing private life insurance company in India.This has more than 1200 branches across country and deals in primarily unitlinked,traditional,health,child and pension policies.

Also, Allianz Cornhill Information Services (ACIS) is a captive offshore facility of Allianz Insurance plc, operating from the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum), offering both IT and ITES services. ACIS is a CMMI Level 5 company providing world-class Application Development and Maintenance services to Allianz Insurance in the UK and some other Allianz companies. ACIS is also a pioneer of the ITeS industry in Kerala and is ISO 9001-2000 certified for its Business Process Operations.

Slovakia[link]

Allianz - Slovenská poisťovňa headquarters, Bratislava

Allianz started its life and Property & Casualty (P&C) operation in Slovakia in 1993 but the local subsidiary was never able to achieve a relevant market share. In 2001 Allianz AG bought the majority ownership in then state-owned Slovenská poisťovňa (SP, Slovak Insurance Company), at the time suffering from political mismanagement, asset-stripping and deep under-reserving. SP however held a market share of well over 50%, which had made it an attractive privatization target, where Allianz had to compete with such insurers as AXA or Aegon. Upon the purchase the local Allianz operation was merged with SP creating a new company Allianz - Slovenská poisťovňa. Its combined market share (life and P&C) presently stands at just below 40% (about 50% in P&C business), still making it by far the market leader.

United Kingdom[link]

Allianz owns British insurance company Cornhill Insurance plc, subsequently renamed Allianz Cornhill Insurance plc. This then simply became Allianz Insurance plc on 30 April 2007 to directly reflect its continental parentage. It also owns the High Net Worth insurance broker Home and Legacy. Their IT captive unit in India Allianz Cornhill Information Services plc is located at Technopark, Trivandrum in Kerala.

Allianz previously owned Kleinwort Benson, which it inherited when it acquired Dresdner Bank. The investment bank has subsequently been merged with the corporate bank of Dresdner Bank and rebranded as Dresdner Kleinwort.

United States[link]

Allianz has a growing prevalence within the United States, notably Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and Fireman's Fund. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America employs close to 2000 employees. Allianz also owns Pacific Investment Management Company, commonly called PIMCO.

Recent management[link]

CEOs to date:

• 2003 — Present : Michael Diekmann
• 1991 — 2003: Henning Schulte-Noelle

Sponsorships[link]

The Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

Allianz provided naming rights for the Allianz Arena, a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany, which is sponsored by Allianz. The two professional Munich football clubs Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium; Bayern Munich since 1972 and 1860 München since the 1990s.

Allianz owned the Polish football team Gornik Zabrze till April 2011 when has sold shares in controversial way.

Allianz had been in negotiations with the New York Jets and the Giants to buy naming rights to the New Meadowlands Stadium (now known as MetLife Stadium) in East Rutherford, NJ, but those talks ended due to opposition from Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors.^[11]

Allianz has been involved in Formula One since 2000, firstly as a sponsor of the AT&T WilliamsF1 Team, and since 2011 as a sponsor of the Mercedes GP Petronas team.

In early 2009, Allianz signed an agreement to become the Global Partner of the St. Andrews Links Trust.

In early 2012, Allianz entered an agreement with the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust which oversaw the Sydney Football Stadium being renamed Allianz Stadium. As part of the deal, some of the seats were replaced to read Alliance as well as the future installation of external dramatic lighting.

Controversies[link]

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In 1993 Henning Schulte-Noelle commissioned a new Archive for Corporate History, becoming the first Allianz CEO to address the company's activities during the Third Reich. The Archive opened in 1996. In 1997 Schulte-Noelle asked Gerald D. Feldman, historian from the University of California-Berkeley, if he would undertake a larger research project on Allianz's past involvement with the Third Reich. Feldman started the research in 1998 with a team of young historians. A few months later, Jewish World War II survivors and their descendants took Allianz and other European insurance companies to court, accusing them of unpaid insurance policies. Allianz and four other insurers supported the creation of the "International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims" (ICHEIC). Furthermore, Allianz became a founding member of the German Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future". Both organizations took care of payments for the victims. Feldman published the comprehensive results of his research in September 2001. Based on these results Allianz established an exhibition in the Archive for Corporate History and on the Internet.

The research concluded that Allianz, as an organization and through its corporate officers, was forced to comply with the Nazi Regime and the Third Reich, starting as early as the early 1930s and continuing all the way through to the collapse of the Third Reich.

Among the more notable examples:

Allianz managers held senior positions in the administration of national socialist Germany. Kurt Schmitt, director general of Allianz until 1933, was Hitler’s Reich Economics Minister from June 1933 until January 1935. He became a member of both the Nazi Party and the SS in 1933, rising to the rank of Brigadeführer, which is a one-star general in the SS. Eduard Hilgard, member of the board of Allianz, became head of the "Reich Group for Insurance" in 1934. He represented the insurance industry in a conference summoned by Hermann Göring after the November Pogrom of 1938. Hilgard reported on the material damages caused during the Kristallnacht Pogrom and the estimated amounts of money insurance companies had to cover.

Feldman summarized his findings stating: "It was just one more piece of business in the Third Reich, but it demonstrated that such pieces on any large scale made contact at some point with all that is represented by the name “Auschwitz” – from slave labor to extermination – virtually inescapable.“^[12]

See also[link]

	Bavaria portal
	Companies portal

• European Financial Services Roundtable
• The Geneva Association

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (December 2006)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Allianz

• Official website

v t e DAX companies of Germany Adidas Allianz BASF Bayer Beiersdorf BMW Commerzbank Daimler Deutsche Bank Deutsche Börse Deutsche Post Deutsche Telekom E.ON Fresenius Fresenius Medical Care HeidelbergCement Henkel Infineon Technologies K+S Linde Lufthansa MAN Merck METRO Munich Re RWE SAP Siemens ThyssenKrupp Volkswagen

Coordinates: 48°09′16″N 11°35′20″E / 48.15444°N 11.58889°E / 48.15444; 11.58889