# Börse Berlin

Börse Berlin AG (also known as the Berlin Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1685 through an edict of Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, and is one of the oldest exchanges in Germany.

## History

The Berlin Stock Exchange was established on June 29, 1685, by Elector Friedrich Wilhelm. The first trading session was held on February 25, 1739. The upper floor of the former Lusthaus in the Lustgarten, next to the Berlin Cathedral and in direct proximity to Berliner Stadtschloss, was used before 1798. It was then demolished and a new building for the stock exchange was built at the same location. From 1803, the bearer of the stock exchange was the United Stock Exchange Corporation, and from 1820 onwards, it was run by the newly founded Corporation of Berlin Merchants(Berliner Kaufmannschaft). During 1859 to 1863, Friedrich Hitzig built the stock exchange building on Burgstraße 25–26 on the other side of the Spree which opened on October 1, 1863. Because of its location on Burgstrasse (Burgstraße), the Berlin Stock Exchange was also called "The Burgstrasse". The total cost of construction was 700,000 Thaler. Economically, until the beginning of the First World War, the Berlin Stock Exchange was one of the three most important in the world – after London and New York. With the general mobilization of Russia on July 30, 1914, the beginning of the First World War, it was completely closed. The unrestricted free trading resumed on November 2, 1917.
In 1920, when the corporation of Berlin Merchants, after one hundred years of existence, merged with the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1902, the ownership of the stock exchange was transferred to the latter. In 1922, the Stock Index of the Statistical Office was calculated for the first time, based on the average price level of around 300 representative shares of the Berlin Stock Exchange. The Economic Broadcasting Service (Wirtschaftsrundfunk), an agency for business news, had an office in the stock market. On May 13, 1927, Black Friday, the stock index on the stock exchange collapsed by 31.9 percent. By the end of 1926, 917 public companies were trading on the Stock Exchange, but by the end of 1932 only 659 were trading. The number of listed companies dropped to 450 by 1943. The Second World War in 1943 led to the suspension of the price determination by the Reich Statistical Office (Statistische Reichsamt).
On May 24, 1944, the stock exchange building burned down after an air raid. The ruins were demolished in 1957 and 1958. For a long time, a few visible parts of the building (pillar parts, façade decoration) laid behind a construction fence until the new construction began in 2001.

## Börse Berlin after the Second World War

After the war, the Berlin Stock Exchange in West Berlin was reopened. Nevertheless, with all major corporations and banks leaving the city, the stock market never regained the importance it had before the war.
In order to address internationalization and growing consolidation pressure, from the mid-nineties, Börse Berlin pursued a strategy with a particular focus on trading the widest range of foreign stocks and bonds.
In September 2007, Börse Berlin AG acquired a majority stake in EASDAQ NV, which operates under the Equiduct brand. With the pan-European market model of Equiduct, Börse Berlin re-positioned itself as a start-up. The key requirement of the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID)—best execution—is guaranteed by Equiduct, order by order. The launch of the Equiduct marketplace took place on March 20, 2009.
On July 21, 2009, Equiduct entered into a strategic partnership with Citadel Securities, a division of Citadel Investment Group, L.L.C.. The agreement between Citadel Securities and Börse Berlin AG provided the funding required by Equiduct to develop its platform. Equiduct continues to be operated by Börse Berlin on the newly created market segment Berlin Second Regulated Market (B.S.R.M.).
In October 2019, the stock exchange operator, Tradegate Exchange GmbH, announced the completion of a share deal to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Berlin Börse AG, the operating company of the traditional Berlin Stock Exchange and the London-based platform, Equiduct. In return, the previous owner of the Berlin Börse AG, the Verein Berliner Börse e.V., received a stake in the Tradegate Exchange GmbH. In the future, The three exchanges, Tradegate Exchange, Börse Berlin, and Equiduct, operate and continue to be developed under one roof.
The Exchange Council of Börse Berlin appointed Friederike von Hofe as the managing director of Börse Berlin starting from August 1, 2020. Additionally, the supervisory board of the sponsoring company appointed von Hofe as a member of the executive board of Börse Berlin AG.
Until June 2022, Börse Berlin was headquartered in Ludwig-Erhard-Haus, a building designed by Nicholas Grimshaw at the Fasanenstraße 85 in the Charlottenburg district. Since June 2022, Börse Berlin has been located at Kurfürstendamm, a well-known boulevard in Berlin.