Rotterdamsche Bank

The Rotterdamsche Bank, known from 1911 to 1947 as Rotterdamsche Bankvereeniging or Robaver,^[1] was a significant bank in the Netherlands, founded in 1863. In 1964, it merged with Amsterdamsche Bank to form AMRO Bank (for AMsterdamsche & ROtterdamsche).^[2]

The Rotterdamsche Bank was established on 16 May 1863 by a group of businessmen and bankers, who took inspiration from the British Colonial Bank and aimed at financing trade and investment in the Dutch East Indies. After a difficult start, however, the bank soon focused on domestic business.^[3]

Between 1911 and 1947 it was known as the Union Bank of Rotterdam (Dutch: Rotterdamsche Bank Vereeniging, abbreviated as Robaver), following its 1911 acquisition of Rotterdam competitor Deposito- en Administratie Bank (est. 1900) and soon afterwards of Amsterdam brokers Determeijer Weslingh & Zn. (est. 1765). Under the leadership of its ambitious managing director Willem Westerman [nl], it went on to acquire a number of local banks,^[4] but became overextended and had to be restructured under the aegis of De Nederlandsche Bank in the mid-1920s. In 1928, it created the Vrouwenbank [nl] ("Women's Bank"), a bank targeted at a female customer base that lasted until 1971.^[4]

In 1960, Rotterdamsche Bank acquired Nationale Handelsbank, a major former colonial bank that had been known until 1950 as the Dutch-Indian Trade Bank (Dutch: Nederlandsch-Indische Handelsbank, NIHB; est. 1863).^[3]

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  Pre-World War II Rotterdamsche Bank head office on the Boompjes [nl] waterfront thoroughfare, ca. 1905
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  Branch on Rokin in Amsterdam, 1979 (demolished since then)
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  Former branch building at Kneuterdijk 8, The Hague
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  Former branch building [nl] in Gouda

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