The European Association for Banking History e.V. (eabh) was founded on 29 November 1990 in an inaugural meeting at the premises of Deutsche Bank, in Frankfurt am Main, by 22 banking institutions and one academic institution from 20 European countries. Manfred Pohl, German business historian and head of ‘Historisches Institut der Deutschen Bank’ (1972–2000), was the responsible for the creation of the forum that could lead to the foundation of the eabh. During the ‘European Colloquium on Banking History’ held in Frankfurt on 9 February 1989 Pohl launched the idea of creating an association for banking history and decided to gather European scholars and banking institutions’ archivists in a working group to draft the first statutes. Other members of the first eabh Board of Management were Wilfried Guth, chairman of the Board of Patrons; Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, chairman; Herman Van der Wee, Chairman of the Academic Advisory Council; Pedro Martinez Mendez, Treasurer and Robert Lion, Member.
