Rise and fall of a church-affiliated building and loan society 1926-1931

The Bausparkasse Devaheim was a building and loan society affiliated with the Lutheran church in Germany. Founded as part of the initial wave of the German building society movement, Devaheim's rapid rise was the result of the housing shortage during the Weimar Republic. Its sudden collapse was due to a combination of factors, including: nepotism within its management structures; a lack of professional ability and personal integrity on the part of its managers; an alarming expansion of its business lines; and an organisational structure conducive to concealing fraud. The offences committed by those in charge were punished by prison sentences and fines. The financial damage inflicted on Devaheim's approximately 16,000 savers and on the building society movement as a whole could only be partly offset by subsequent government assistance. Abstract printed by permission of the publisher