Inside Crisis Central With a German Central Banker

At first glance, Andreas Dombret’s office at the brutalist Bundesbank building in Frankfurt epitomizes German banker clichés: black leather furniture, glass tables, chrome-encased lighting. But there are bursts of color amid the industrial aesthetic. Electric purple and red blare from a painting by Markus Prachensky. The suit Dombret is wearing is lined in bright orange. The scene hints at a distinctive feature of his eight years on the board of Germany’s central bank, which came to an end in April. The German American, who brought dynamism and a large Rolodex of contacts with him to the institution, is something of an extrovert in a world of introverts and technocrats.

Dombret’s time at the Bundesbank has been all about peeling back the layers of complexity inherent in banking. Behind his desk on the 12th floor is an abstract blue drawing by Arnulf Rainer, an Austrian artist (like Prachensky) best known for sketches that obscure other images. “For me, art is very emotional,” says Dombret, 58. “I try to see the artists themselves and understand what they’re doing and why. For me, understanding is more important than owning.”