The early years
When Carl von Thieme founded the Munich Reinsurance Company in April 1880, the outlook for the insurance market was anything but rosy. Fire and marine insurance, the main lines of business at that time, were performing poorly. A host of new companies succumbed to the crisis. Nevertheless, von Thieme still considered that insurance had a great future. He was convinced that the need for risk cover would grow with the coming of the industrial age and the internationalisation it would entail. As only one large reinsurance company and a few modestly capitalised smaller ones were operating in Germany, German insurers were forced to resort to foreign reinsurers to meet their reinsurance needs for their main risks.
Munich Re was to change that. Von Thieme devised a new strategy for a company: independent of insurers, it would be able to spread its risks across all geographical regions and classes of business and operate efficiently with standard treaties and in close partnership with its clients. The strategy worked – business in Germany and the rest of Europe grew rapidly. Only five years after it was founded, Munich Re was the world’s largest reinsurer.
19 April 1880 – Entry in the commercial register
On 3 April 1880, Carl Thieme establishes Munich Reinsurance Company together with Messrs. Cramer-Klett, Finck, Schauss, Pensel and Schmidt-Polex. The company is entered in the Munich commercial register on 19 April. The first reinsurance treaty is concluded with Thuringia. This and 32 other treaties are signed in the first year of operation, with premium income of around a million marks – an impressive achievement.
1880 – The first international transaction
The first reinsurance treaty with a foreign client, Almedige Brand-Assurance-Compagni of Copenhagen, is submitted to the Supervisory Board for approval.
1885 – Social innovations
Munich Re pays its staff a Christmas bonus for the first time. Company pensions are introduced from 1891. From the mid-1890s, the company adopts “English working hours” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free lunches are served from 1897 on. In 1898, a scheme is launched to help staff with the financing of family homes. With all these measures, Munich Re sets standards in the treatment of employees.
1886 – The first overseas office
The first office outside Germany is set up in Paris. In addition to France, it is also responsible for Belgium, and later for Spain. Further representative offices follow in St. Petersburg, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
1887 – Growth in Russia
Munich Re expands its presence in Russian marine insurance. A quota share reinsurance treaty with Russija covering inland-waterways and ocean-going business is signed in St. Petersburg on 24 February. Marine reinsurance treaties with Russian Lloyd in St. Petersburg, Volga in Nizhny Novgorod and Nordic in Moscow follow. Munich Re even provides its Russian clients with a recovery ship.
1888 – The first shareholding in a primary insurer
Munich Re takes its first shareholding in a primary insurance company – the Russian personal accident insurer Pomoshch.
1888 – Stock exchange listing
On 21 March, Munich Re’s shares are introduced on the Munich Stock Exchange at a flotation price of 700 marks. On 2 January 1890, the shares are traded at 990 marks, ten years later at 2,435 marks.
1888 – The first life reinsurance treaty
The first life reinsurance treaty is signed on 3 July with the Russian Company for the Insurance of Capital and Annuities in St. Petersburg.
1889 – Founding of Allianz
In September, Carl Thieme and Wilhelm von Finck establish an accident and liability insurance company, which is entered in the Berlin Commercial Register on 5 February 1890. Its name is Allianz Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft. By 1914, Allianz has risen to become the largest German property insurer with a premium income of over 50 million marks.
