This decorative fold-out card was given to Friedrich and Anneliese Samson when their first daughter, Gabriele, was born in Berlin on 4 March 1933. It originally came with a coupon for three reichsmarks that could be used if the parents opened a savings account for their child and deposited at least one reichsmark. The card features a number of Berlin sights, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Gendarmenmarkt, the Berlin Cathedral, the Old Museum and the Red City Hall. Such promotions were designed to encourage people to invest in their savings. It is not known whether Gabriele‘s parents ever used the coupon.

Germany's savings banks (Sparkassen), which had by far the largest number of customers among the country‘s banking institutions, were especially important for the Nazis‘ economic policy because they provided the bulk of the capital needed to rearm the country and later to finance the war. They were also involved from the outset in the large-scale illegal seizure of the Jewish population‘s assets.

Gabriele Samson was considered a "half-Jew" under Nazi racial laws. On the night of the pogrom on 9 November 1938, her Jewish father, Friedrich Samson, was arrested and taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. During his internment, the Nazis confiscated his mannequin company.

In June 1939, after he was released, the family immigrated to Sweden, taking this gift card with them. Its motifs reminded them of their native city.

Lea Weik

[Front]
Gift from the Berlin Savings Bank
to Gabriele Samson
born on 4 March 1933 in Berlin

[Inside]
Together with the enclosed coupon for three reichsmarks, this card is a gift from the Savings Bank of Berlin. It is presented to every child born in the city. Please accept this gift and our best wishes for the start of your life. We hope it will provide a foundation and encouragement for further savings.

If a savings account is opened for the child and an additional deposit of at least one reichsmark is made, the coupon for three reichsmarks will be credited to the account. The coupon becomes invalid three years after issuance. Three reichsmarks of the initial deposit cannot be withdrawn until the child has turned fourteen, except in the event of death or if the child moves away from Berlin.

[Back]
What you spend benefits others
What you save accumulates for you