The eponym points to the special meaning of the building: David Hansemann (1790-1864). The businessman, banker and politician was born in Finkenwerder near Hamburg and trained as merchant in Rheda (1804-09). Conditioned by his work in the commission business for wool, he built up a fortune, which allowed him to dedicate his work and life in economic independence not only to his personal business, but to the public interest as well. That represented the liberal core values in the 19th century, which Hansemann supported.
Due to his travel years in the commission business for wool, Aachen became the center of his political and economical contributions. In 1824 he founded the “Aachener-Feuer-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft”, an insurance company, contemporary known as “Aachen-Münchener”. Since 1828 he was a member of the municipal council in Aachen, since 1832 of the provincial Rhineland parliament (Rheinischer Provinziallandtag). In 1848, he transferred his actions to Berlin where he was appointed Prussian Minister of Finance. In 1849 he founded the Berlin-based “Direction der Disconto Gesellschaft” – Germany’s leading business bank for many years – which merged with the Deutsche Bank in 1929, becoming the “Deutsche Bank and Disconto-Gesellschaft”. In 1937 the company’s name was simplified into “Deutsche Bank”. Next to his work as a businessman and a politician, Hansemann made himself a name in the railway industry which he supported through his political activity and the founding of the “Rhenisch Railway Company”.