German banker's son kidnapped

Jakob von Metzler, 11, went missing on Friday

The 11-year-old son of a prominent German banker has been kidnapped, police in Frankfurt say, and payment of a one-million-euro ransom has failed to secure his release.

The boy, Jakob von Metzler, is the son of Friedrich von Metzler, the head of Metzler Bank, one of the country's oldest private banks.

Police said on Monday that the boy disappeared on his way home from school last Friday after getting off a public bus in Frankfurt at about 1030 local time (0830GMT).

An hour later, the family received a ransom note demanding one million euros ($989,000), but promising that the boy would be released once the money was handed over.

'Whereabouts unknown'

Police say they have detained two people in connection with the kidnapping, but it was not clear how they were involved. Investigators say they have no clues as to where the boy is being held.

"Jakob von Metzler has not been released by his kidnappers. His whereabouts are not known," police said in a statement.

Metzler Bank, an international investment bank that has been in business since 1674, is still owned by the family that founded it.

It is based in Frankfurt but has offices in Munich, Stuttgart, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo and Dublin.

Germany has a history of high-profile kidnappings.

In 1996, the heir to a German tobacco fortune, Jan Philipp Reemtsma, was kidnapped but released after his family paid a $14m ransom.

The country also saw a wave of kidnappings carried out by the left-wing-extremist Baader-Meinhof gang in the 1970s.