Frankfurt Stock Exchange

The roots of the Frankfurt Stock exchange stretch as far back as the 11th century, when the city was alive with the medieval trade fairs that boosted the economy. As Frankfurt’s reputation for trading increased, traders from the Netherlands and France came to the German city and over time, the economy prospered thanks to the increased financial services and trades that were established.

The exchange was founded in 1585, when merchants congregated in the city to establish exchange rates between the regional currencies. During the centuries that followed, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange grew, and became one of the major international players, alongside Paris and London.

Like much of Europe, it was hit hard by the events of WW1 and WW2, and for a while, Frankfurt lost its standing as an international stock exchange, but when Nazi rule ceased, trading began again in 1949 and the city established itself as one of Germany’s leading stock exchanges.

When the digital era arrived in 1969, Frankfurt’s traders began to process transactions electronically using the BÖGA system. By 1997, everything began to be performed digitally thanks to Xetra, the revolutionary electronic trading system that is still in operation today.

There are a number of indices used to track the performance of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. These include TecDAX, CDAX, and EuroStoxx 50.

However, it is the Deutscher Aktieninde, also known as DAX 30, that is the most popular one used today. This tracks the value of the 30 blue-chip companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is seen as the measure for the country’s overall equity market.