The Tank Family
The Tanks have been managing royal wealth since the 14th century and are therefore subject to the vicissitudes that accompany the decisions of the monarchs they serve. However, the frequency with which they are called upon by the highest office holders demonstrates their expertise in banking matters over the centuries.
Germany: Roman Empire
The Tanks were ennobled by Charles IV, Roman Emperor (reign: 1346-78). The Tank family is the name of a Jewish Dano-Norwegian family of German origin. They have always been experts in finance, with many members of the family working independently to manage the wealth of various kings, emperors and nobles.
Denmark
Martin Tank, one of King Christian IV’s officers since 1638, was confirmed as a member of the combined Danish and Norwegian nobility on 23 October 1643 and was also granted a coat of arms. Martin Tank was the Danish Resident of The Hague. He was among the nobles who attended the 1660 meeting of the estates (Danish: stændermøde) in Copenhagen. Towards the end of his life, Tank was an advisor in the chamber of the Prince Elector of Saxony.
Norway
Carsten Tank, government minister and owner of the estate where the Norwegian Constitution was signed in 1814. Carsten Tank was a Norwegian businessman and politician. From 1790 onwards he ran extensive business activities and built up a considerable fortune. He owned about 100 farms and lived in the manor house Rød by Halden.
The Dano-Norwegian Empire
In December 1813, Tank attended a meeting in Christiania to discuss the creation of a separate Norwegian bank. He was also introduced at the notable Eidsvoll Meeting on 16 February 1814, and on 2 March of the same year he became a “member of the Ministry of Finance” in the Government Council. Tank joined the Cabinet on 17 May and headed the Ministry of Finance until his resignation in July. In early August 1814, during a war with Sweden, he acted as a mediator for Karl Johan during the armistice negotiations and conveyed, among other things, his offer of an armistice to Christian Frederik. Tank was a representative of the Storting in the period 1815–1816 and 1821–1822, and in 1821 he was president of the Storting. He was hit hard by the economic crisis of the 1820s. Many members of the family began to move to other countries and work independently. When Jacob Tank, in 1825, after learning that Portugal had recognized the sovereign independence of Brazil, gathered all his brothers and cousins in Europe and created the Trust Diskont Bank, known as Trust Disconto, which began to finance the creation of colonies and the departure of European immigrants to the Americas.
The Americas – Before World War I
Friedrich Solomon Tank (Jacob’s son), Maurice de Hirsh and Franz Philippson;
Given the success of European colonies in Brazil, the Tanks, gained the trust of investors and conceived the creation of the second largest German bank abroad, the Brazilian Bank for Germany, founded by the Trust Disconto in 1886.
The Tanks and Baron Hirsh had been working together since the 1800s… Came the opportunity of investing also in Brazil. This idea came to rescue Jews from Europe to America prior the Great War. After Hirsh’s death, his capital – the equivalent of US$ 1.12 billion in today’s dollars – was bequeathed and managed by the JCA (Jewish Community Association). However, the JCA continued in the financial direction led by Franz Philippson, a friend of Hirsh and Tank – a Belgian banker and president of the Jewish community in Brussels.
The Brazilian government greatly facilitated the financial expansion of the JCA and Tank businesses in Brazil by enacting an extremely favorable law for the construction of cities along the railways – this was the beginning of the railway network throughout Brazil.
The Americas – Current Affairs
Otto Levy Tank and his son Anthony Dayan Tank;
Tank’s millennial experience and savoir-faire resurfaces again in 2022, expanding its investments in cutting-edge technology. Thus, Tank Bank has a sophisticated financial operating system developed in Israel, where robust security measures are enabled for the management of specialized financial services, focused on Family Office and Private Wealth Management.