Files from the Devisenstelle (Foreign Currency Authority) in Frankfurt am Main and Kassel

Record keeping authority: Foreign exchange offices Frankfurt a.M. and Kassel
 The state exchange control to avoid flight of capital with foreign currency, existed in the German Reich since 1931. The pertaining foreign exchange offices were established in June 1932. They were subject in the last instance to the economics ministry of the Reich (therein starting from 1934 the Reich office for currency control). The intermediate supervisory authorities were in the beginning the state tax offices and then from 1937 the Chief Finance Presidents (Oberfinanzpraesidenten). The official designation was: "Der Oberfinanzpraesident (Devisenstelle), the Chief Finance President (foreign exchange office)".
 In today's Hessen and the former Prussian province Hessen-Nassau respectively, the medium authority in charge was the Chief Finance President in Kassel. The foreign exchange offices Frankfurt a.M. and Kassel were subordinate to him. There are no files remaining from the Chief Finance President in Darmstadt, responsible for the former Volksstaat Hessen (people's state of Hesse) and the local foreign exchange office (1944 war loss). In spatial respect, the foreign exchange offices essentially acted parallel to the responsibility of the tax offices, thus according to the place-of-residence principle. The foreign exchange office Kassel was responsible for the then district of Kassel, the Frankfurt foreign exchange office for the then district of Wiesbaden. In the Nazi period - immediately after 1933 - the foreign exchange offices in the empire were enhanced to a tool to specifically control and ultimately take possession of the assets of Jewish emigrants. Among others, in the context of anti-Jewish measures of the Nazi regime after 1935 and after 1938 they were responsible for:
 - the removal of household goods of Jewish emigrants; this was subject to approval by the foreign exchange offices.
 - security orders against Jewish assets and the administration of so-called "limited available security accounts" (beschraenkt verfuegbare Sicherungskonten, bvS); the control ended either with emigration or with deportation
 - the control of emigrants' locked accounts
 - exchange control over land, real estate and copyright and publishing rights
 - collection of the "Reichsfluchtsteuer" (Reichs Flight Tax) and requesting the pertaining detailed property lists of Jewish emigrants.
 In the case of violations, the foreign exchange offices could impose penalties in form of so-called punitive or submission proceedings (foreign exchange criminal proceedings); serious cases were reported to the prosecution.