Rolf Breuer, the resilient and controversial banker, is battling the tensions of German capitalism

He has been called the "great communicator" and, less pithily, the "embodiment of Frankfurt as a financial hub". But this week, the accolades for Rolf Breuer rang hollow. On Monday, Mr Breuer, chairman of the supervisory boards of both Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Börse, was forced out of his job at the German stock exchange group after five months of shareholder accusations that he had failed to communicate effectively with them or his fellow directors.