Protestants and economic life
Business and banking, though perfectly secular activities, have retained a durably specific connotation when carried out by Protestants.
This may be explained by the latter’s particular approach to work and also by well-planned alliances between Protestant families allowing them to consolidate and diversify their activities. Protestant firms such as the Mallet Bank, the De Dietrich factories, the Peugeot Factories, the Haviland Manufacture and the Oberkampf Manufacture have all been regarded as reliable – reliable because they are Protestant. Moreover, these families frequently set up business alliances.
