This publication is dedicated to the founding and early years of the Disconto-Gesellschaft, which was established in 1851 by David Hansemann, one of the most prominent figures of the Prussian monarchy, and merged with Deutsche Bank in 1929. The Disconto-Gesellschaft was one of the largest German banking institutions and could boast that it had engaged in and developed methods for large financial and investment business more than any other German bank. Even the first decades of its operation clearly reveal the extent to which it became a co-creator of industrial and transportation enterprises both domestically and abroad. This work also serves as a contribution to the history of banking in Berlin as well as in Germany.