German American National Bank — Lincoln National Bank and Trust

1905 – acquired by Norwest, early 1990s

Founded: Chartered in 1905 as the German American National Bank, on Court Street — then the ninth bank in Fort Wayne. Founders: Samuel Foster and Ohio banker Theodore Wentz. (One ACGSI page dates the charter 1906; the bank's own 1906 book and the tower histories give 1905.)

What it did: The bank of Fort Wayne's German-American business community — a community that, in the tower history's words, formed "the backbone of his investors, depositors, and customers."

Course: On 31 May 1918, with wartime anti-German sentiment running high, it renamed itself Lincoln National Bank — borrowing the glow of the Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (1905) down the street and the Lincoln Highway through town. In 1928 it merged with the Lincoln Trust Company (formerly the Strauss Brothers Commercial Bank) to become Lincoln National Bank and Trust. President Charles Buesching, himself a German immigrant, commissioned its headquarters: construction began in late 1929 and the Lincoln Bank Tower at 116 East Berry Street opened 16 November 1930 — 22 stories, 312 feet, $1.3 million, the tallest building in Indiana until 1962. A Comptroller of the Currency note records a 1969 charter issued for the bank in a consolidation with the Allen County National Bank.

Fate: The troubled bank was purchased by Norwest Corporation in the early 1990s (the building history dates the takeover 1992; Norwest kept offices in the tower until 1995). Norwest merged with Wells Fargo in 1998, closing the lineage there. The tower itself passed to Tower Bank, and in April 2014 became Old National Bank's Fort Wayne market headquarters (see the Old National entry).

Sources:

1. Lincoln Bank Tower, Wikipedia — chartered 1905 as German American National Bank; renamed 31 May 1918; the 1928 trust merger; the 1930 opening; Norwest in the tower to 1995; Tower Bank and Old National 2014.
2. ACGSI, "Lincoln Tower, Fort Wayne" — founders Foster and Wentz; Buesching; the 1905/1906 charter variant.
3. Indiana Business northeast Indiana roundup, 1993 (via The Free Library) — Norwest's purchase of "troubled Lincoln National Bank."
4. Comptroller of the Currency, annual report extracts — Lincoln National Bank and Trust Co. of Fort Wayne / Allen County National Bank charter, 29 October 1969.