Corporate citizenship

As an institution based in Frankfurt am Main, Rentenbank primarily supports local cultural institutions and selected projects in the city. Through memberships in the respective support associations, we regularly support, among others, Schirn Kunsthalle, Städel Museum and the Museum für Moderne Kunst.

Through our Christmas donation, we supported the following charities: „Die Arche“ Kinderstiftung – Christliches Kinder- und Jugendwerk (Arche), Hospizverein Sankt Katharina e. V., Malteser Hilfsdienst e. V., „Winter Campaing of the Sankt Katharina parish and Hilfe für krebskranke Kinder Frankfurt e. V.

Rentenbank’s employees regularly donate bags filled with groceries to support the work of “Die Arche” in Frankfurt. In addition, they provided the children and young people with materials for the start of the school year, took part in “Die Arche” Christmas wish list campaign by donating presents and offered support in the form of homework assistance.

Rentenbank never uses donations or sponsoring to influence third parties improperly. Rentenbank does not enter into sponsoring agreements with and does not make donations to political parties and organisations.

Donations made by Rentenbank, 2025-2023 (in euros)

Buchenborn Forest Project

As an example of its targeted support of nature conservation efforts in the Rhine-Main region, Rentenbank has since 2016 promoted a forestry project in the 550-hectare Buchenborn Forest District in the Wetterau region of Hesse State, together with the German Institute for Federal Real Estate (Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben; BImA). With their long-term commitment to this project, Rentenbank and BImA make an active contribution to climate change mitigation and the conservation of species and biodiversity an area in the immediate vicinity of Rentenbank’s headquarters in Frankfurt am Main.

Through sustainable forestry and additional species and nature conservation projects, numerous ecosystem services are generated in the forest area and financially remunerated. To this end, Rentenbank and BImA have entered into a framework agreement. Under this agreement, BImA manages the forest area in accordance with strict ecological principles. Among other measures, it leaves logging residues and deadwood in place to enrich the ecosystem. It also refrains entirely from using biocides of any kind. Other focal areas of the agreement include promoting site-appropriate vegetation based on the area’s potential natural vegetation, maintaining wildlife populations at appropriate levels and implementing dedicated species conservation measures. The Nature Conservation Department of the Federal Forest Service (Bundesforst) provides expert advice and quality assurance in this context.

As part of this collaboration, additional ecosystem services are also generated through individual measures. To date, eleven such measures contributing to nature and species conservation have been launched. One of the first projects to be implemented was “1.000 Baumriesen” (“1,000 Tree Giants”). Its aim is to protect and promote old, large and vital trees in Buchenborn Forest. These giant trees perform a wide range of specific functions within the forest ecosystem, including supporting natural forest regeneration, providing shelter for various animal species and serving as habitats for a large number of insect and spider species. Preserving animal habitats is also the objective of the “Sommerhang” (“Summer Slope”) project, which is designed to create a warmer and drier forest microclimate. This atypical forest climate benefits increasingly rare species of insects and birds, as well as wildcats. The “Auf leisen Pfoten” (“On Silent Paws”) project is intended to support the growth of wildcat populations. The highly endangered European wildcat prefers structurally diverse, near-natural forests offering sufficient cover and suitable hunting grounds. As some animal species depend on greater exposure to light and sunshine, the “Sonnenanbeter” (“Sun Worshippers”) project was launched to restore two former stone quarries in Buchenborn to a more natural state and manage the surrounding forest vegetation accordingly. The sunny areas created in this way will benefit native common lizards, smooth snakes, slow worms and insects. Projects that are designed to benefit specific animal species include “Taubenwäldchen” (Dove Grove), “Hirsch der Insekten” (Stag of the Insects) and “Dracula’s Speisekammer” (Dracula’s Pantry). The first project is a dedicated measure aimed at protecting the stock pigeon and creating optimal conditions to support the rapid recovery of its population. The second project focuses on protecting and promoting the stag beetle, the largest beetle species in Europe, which is included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The third project is aimed at enhancing habitat conditions for bats. In particular, the greater mouse-eared bat and the barbastelle prefer open mature woodland with a sufficient number of roosting sites and food sources, such as those found in the Buchenborn forest. By curbing natural regeneration, these forest stands are kept open, while the installation of bat boxes further enhances the habitat.

The most recent project, added in 2025, is entitled “Regensenken” (“Rainwater retention depressions”) and is designed to improve rainwater retention in the Buchenborn forest area. Through the construction of drainage structures and retention basins, water run-off is to be regulated in such a way that the water balance in the project area is stabilised over the long term and water is directed specifically into the forest stands.

The Buchenborn forest project is an example of how additional ecosystem services can be promoted in commercially managed forests through the provision of the necessary financial resources.