RISE OF ROTHSCHILD - 1. Origins and Early Activities of the Frankfort Family Rothschild - Count Egon Caesar Corti - SECRETS OF POWER: Masters of Politics, Strategy & War

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Rise of the House of Rothschild seventeen seventy to
eighteen thirty by County gon Caesar Cordy Forward. Historians in
interpreting the nineteenth century have laid stress on many and
various aspects of the period under study, and descriptions of
isolated periods, single episodes and individuals are scattered amongst hundreds

(00:22):
and even thousands of books. On the other hand, certain
special features of the period under consideration have been, for
various reasons, entirely neglected. An example of such neglect is
the ignoring by historians of the role played by the
Rothchild family in the history of the nineteenth century, and
the object of this work is to appraise the important

(00:42):
influence of this family on the politics of the period,
not only in Europe but throughout the world. For strangely enough,
the influence of the Rothschilds is barely mentioned or at
the most casually referred to in otherwise comprehensive and painstaking
historical treatises. Literature dealing with the House of Rothchild usually

(01:02):
falls into one of two groups, either fulsome pians of
praise commissioned by the house itself, or scurrilous pamphlets inspired
by hatred, both equally unpleasant. There are, however, two works
of serious value in existence which are partially compiled from
legal documents, but they are of small scope. One is
by an employee of the Rothschilds, Christian Wilhelm Bergheffer, and

(01:26):
the other is the impartial work of doctor Richard Ehrenberg.
But these treat only of isolated incidents in the history
of the house and throw no light on its pan
European importance. The object of the present work, which deals
with the period seventeen seventy to eighteen thirty, is to
trace the rise of the House of Rothschild, from its
small beginnings to the great position it attained, culminating in

(01:47):
the year of its great crisis. In the course of
my researches, I found that references to the name of
Rothchild in official documents and in books of memoirs were
as common as they are rare in contemporary textbooks. I
made a point of collecting all available data, until my
drawers were literally crammed with letters, deeds and documents containing
the name of Rothchild and bearing dates of almost every

(02:10):
year of the nineteenth century. My next step was to
visit the various European capitals which had been the scene
of the family activities, in order to enrich my store
of references with all the relevant literature. The subject is
indeed inexhaustible, but the material I had amassed encouraged me
to essay a complete picture. The subject required the most

(02:30):
delicate treatment, but my determination to undertake the work was
accompanied by the definite intention of according a complete impartiality,
for I was convinced from the beginning that a prejudiced
outlook would render the work utterly valueless. The House of Rothschild,
as will be readily understood, did not throw open its
archives to my inspection, for it is particularly careful in

(02:51):
guarding its more important business secrets. But this was not
entirely without its advantage, for it left me completely free
from political considerations and uninfluenced by racial, national, and religious
predilections or antipathies. I was thus enabled, in accordance with
my wish, to begin an independent historical research into the
part played by this house in the nineteenth century, which

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I knew to be far more important than is commonly thought.
The general scheme of this work will be built upon
facts alone, in a practical way such as will help
us to form our own judgment on individuals and the
part they played in world events. I should like to
take this opportunity of expressing my special sense of gratitude
toward all those whose advice and assistance have been so

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valuable to me in my work. Above all, I have
to thank doctor Bitner, director of the State Archives at Vienna,
as well as his exceedingly helpful staff Professors gross Antonius
Rhinul Schmidt Wolken and his chief clerk Hermeric. I should
also like to thank Lieutenant Colonel Vaughan Carlshausen, grand nephew

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of the man who helped the Rothschilds up the first
rung of the latter, and the director of the Prussian
secks Its State Archives at Berlin Gihium Rat Klinkenborg. My
thanks are also due to doctor Losch of the Prussian
State Library in Berlin, Doctor Richel at Frankfort and the
staff of the Municipal Museum in that city, who together
with the director of the portrait collection in the Vienna

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National Library Hofrat, Doctor Rodinger and doctor Wilhelm Beats, who
so kindly assisted me with the illustrations. The material was
collected for over a period of three and a half years,
and only after much care has been spent on it
do I now offer it to the public. It is
submitted in the hope that it will be judged in
accordance with its intentions. It is inspired by an intense

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love of truth, and it relates the story of an
unseen but infinitely powerful driving force which permeated the whole
of the nineteenth century. The author Vienna, July nineteen twenty seven,
Chapter one, The Origins and the early activities of the
Frankfort Family Rothschild. Frankfort On, the main seat of the

(04:59):
Imperial Election since the Golden Bowl of thirteen fifty six,
acquired a dominating position amongst the great cities of Germany
during the second half of the eighteenth century. Formerly the
capital of the Kingdom of the East Franks, it had
become subject to the Empire alone as early as twelve
forty five, and in spite of many vicissitudes, it had
maintained its leading position throughout the centuries. It expanded considerably

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during the last few centuries before the French Revolution, and
now numbered some thirty five thousand inhabitants, of whom one
tenth were Jews. By virtue of its natural position. Lying
so close to the great waterway of the Rhine and
to the frontiers of France and Holland, it had become
the gateway for the trade of Germany with the Western States.
Trade with England, too, constituted an important element in the

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activities of its inhabitants. It was natural that members of
the Jewish race, with their special gifts for trade and finance,
should be particularly attracted to this city. Moreover, towards the
end of the Middle Ages, the Jews in Frankfort enjoyed
a great measure of freedom, and at first no difficulties
were placed in the way of their settlement. It was

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not until the non Jewish members of the business community
at Worms saw that they were suffering from the competition
of these enterprising people, that the Christian citizens, combined in
their superior numbers, now began a period of harsh oppression
for the Jewish inhabitants. In order that they might be
removed from the neighborhood of the most important church in
the town, they were ordered by a law passed in

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the year fourteen sixty two to leave the houses they
had been living in and to settle in a quarter
set aside for the purpose, the so called Jewish city. This, however,
consisted only of a single dark alley about twelve feet broad,
and lay, as described by Gerda, between the city wall
and a trench. For more than three hundred years, this

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continued to be the sole residence of the Frankfort Jews,
whose continuance in the city became more and more unpopular
with the other inhabitants. As early as the second decade
of the seventeenth century, Arising broke out under one fetemil,
one of the objects of which was to drive the
Jews out of Frankfort. This object was indeed achieved through
murder and pillage. Although the Jews soon returned to the city,

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they had to submit to innumerable restrictions and regulations embodied
in a special law dealing with the so called status
of Jews. They were made subject to a pull tax
and were compelled, as being a foreign element in the town,
to purchase the protection of their persons and property. Hence
they came to be called protected Jews. The number of

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their families was to be limited to five hundred, and
only twelve marriages a year were allowed, Although this number
might be increased if a family died out. The Jews
were not allowed to acquire land or to practice farming
or handicrafts. They were also forbidden to trade in various
commodities such as fruit, weapons, and silk. Moreover, except during fares,

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they were forbidden to offer their wares anywhere except outside
the Jewish quarter. They were forbid sidden to leave the
space within the ghetto walls by night or on Sundays
or Holy days. If a Jew crossed a bridge, he
had to pay a fee for doing so. They were
not allowed to visit public taverns and were excluded from
the more attractive walks in the city. The Jews, accordingly,

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did not stand high in public esteem. When they appeared
in public, they were often greeted with shouts of contempt,
and stones were sometimes thrown at them. Burney has stated
that any street urchin could say to a passing Jew, Jew,
do your duty, and the Jew then had to step
aside and take off his hat. However, that may be
the oppressed condition of the Jews and the bent of

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many of them to usury, combined with the natural hostility
of the Christians and their feeling that they were not
as sharp in business, created an atmosphere of mutual hatred
that can scarcely have been more painful anywhere than in Frankfort.
The progenitors of the House of Rothschild lived under conditions
such as those in the ghetto of Frankfort. The earlier
ancestors of meyer Amskill Rothschild, who laid the foundations of

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the future greatness of the house, existed in the middle
of the sixteenth century. We know their names and their
tombs have been preserved in the old Jewish Cemetery at Frankfort.
Formerly the houses in the Jewish quarter were not numbered,
each house being distinguished by a shield of a particular
color or by a sign. The house in which the
members of the Rothschild family lived bore a small red shield.

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There is no doubt that it is to this fact
that they owe their family name. It is first mentioned
in fifteen eighty five in the name Isaac Elkinan at
the Red Shield, his father's tombstone simply bearing the name Elkinan.
About a century later of Tali hers at the Red
Shield left the ruinous old building from which the family
had derived its name and occupied the so called House
sur Hinter fan in which the Rothschilds were now domiciled

(09:47):
as protected Jews. Until the time when meyer Amskill rothschild,
who was born in the year seventeen forty three, six
years before Gerda reached manhood, the family were principally engaged
in various kinds of retail trade. At the beginning of
the eighteenth century, they had become money changers in a
small way. From the occasional records of their tax payments,

(10:09):
which have been preserved, it would appear that they were
not a poor Jewish family, but that they were only
reasonably well off. In any case, it is clear that
meyer Amskill came into some small inheritance when in seventeen
fifty five, in his twelfth year, he lost his father
and mother, of whom he was the eldest son. This
gave him the incentive to throw himself into the battle

(10:30):
of life with that vigor and industry which his parents
had implanted in him in his early childhood. In the
conditions of those times, the struggle was certainly much more
severe for a young Jew than for his more fortunate
Christian neighbors. When he was a boy of ten, meyer
Amskill had been employed by his father in changing coins
of every kind, that is, in exchanging gold and silver

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for the appropriate amount of copper, known as course money.
In the chaotic conditions prevailing in Germany, divided as the
country was into innumerable small principalities, cities and spiritual jurisdictions,
all of which had their own currency systems, the business
of money changing offered magnificent opportunities of profit, since everybody
was compelled, before undertaking even the shortest journey, to call

(11:14):
for the assistance of the exchange merchant. As the boy
grew up, an important side interest developed out of this occupation,
as he occasionally became possessed of rare and historically valuable coins,
which awoke in him the instincts of the coin collector.
After leaving the school at Firth, where he was educated
in the Jewish faith, Meyer Amschkial entered the firm of

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Oppenheim at Hanover. While there he happened to make the
acquaintance of the Hanoverian General Vaughan Estorf, an ardent coin collector,
who employed him to obtain many valuable coins for his collection.
As the general was connected with the ruling house in Hesse.
This acquaintance was to have fruitful results. In his spare time,
Meyer Amskill now devoted himself more and more to numismatics.

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He got hold of any papers about the subject that
he could, and in course of time, became an expert
in his subject, although his general education left a very
great deal to be desired. At a comparatively early age,
he returned to his native city of Frankfort in order
to take possession of his inheritance, and having done so,
to lay the foundations of a business of his own.

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For this he had received a practical education from his
earliest youth, both at home and at Hanover. About the
same time, General vaughn Estorff left Hanover for the court
of Prince William of Hesse, the grandson off healed Landgrave
William eight, who resided at Hesse. He proceeded to the
small town of Hanau, which lies quite close to Frankfort.

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The prince's father, Frederick two of Hesse, had married a
daughter of King George the third of England of the
House of Hanover, and the two rulers used their family
relationships to consolidate their dynastic and political interests. The sale
of soldiers for service under foreign governments practiced by so
many German princes at this time was an important part
of their activities. England, being particularly accustomed to carrying on

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wars with foreign mercenaries, was an exceedingly good customer. Unfortunately,
Frederick too fell out with his wife, his father, and
his father in law because he changed over from the
Protestant to the Catholic faith. In order to protect his
grandson from his father's influence, the old Land Grave decided
that William was to be kept away from castle and
allotted the county of Hanau to him until he should

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be able to assume the rulership of that province. He
was sent to King Frederick V of Denmark, who had
married the second daughter of the King of England, and
whose daughter was destined to be the future bride of
young William. The relations of the ruling House of Hesse
with England and Denmark were to be fraught with the
most important consequences for the rise of the House of Rothschild,
which was enabled to make use of the close business

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connection that had succeeded in establishing with the ruling House
of Hesse to get into touch with the courts and
the leading statesmen of Denmark. In England. The old Land
Grave William the eighth died in seventeen sixty. Frederick assumed
the government at Kassel, and William became Crown Prince and
as the bridegroom of the Danish Princess. He became, in

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accordance with the will of his grandfather, independent ruler of
the small county of Hanau, with its fifty thousand inhabitants,
to whose interests he devoted himself with the greatest zeal.
William was a thoroughly active person and was never idle
for a moment. He read a great deal and actually
wrote some essays on matters of local historical interest. He

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also tried his hand, though without any great success, at etching, modeling,
and carpentering, and he had a very definite flare for collecting.
It would appear that General Vaughan Estorff aroused his ruler's
interest in coin collecting in seventeen sixty three. William adopted
this hobby with great enthusiasm, and it afforded him much
pleasure and satisfaction. Estorff spoke to him about Meyer Amskill Rothschild,

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who had bought coins for him in Hanover in former
days as being a great expert in that line. On
the strength of this introd u c t Io and
Rothschild selected some of his finest medals and rarest coins
and went to Hanau to offer them to the young prince.
He did not succeed in seeing him personal why, but
he managed to hand them to someone in the Prince's

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immediate entourage. This offer proved to be the starting point
of a lasting business connection, even though at first it
was of a quite loose and impersonal nature. At that time,
a large number of foreigners used to visit Frankfort every spring.
The town fairs were widely famous. The latest products of
the whole world were on view there, and young William

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of Hanau, who had a talent for business, took a
special interest in these fairs and constantly attended them. Meyer
Amskill always managed to get advance information about these journeys
from the Prince's servants, and profited by these occasions to
offer William while he was in Frankfort not only rare coins,
but also precious stones and antiques. Although this was principally

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done through the Prince's retinue, he sometimes managed to conduct
these transact eyes personally and in any case, he managed
to establish a regular business relationship. He was fortunate in
that the Prince did not share the general aversion to Jews,
and appreciated anyone who seemed intelligent and good at business,
and whom he thought he could use in his own interests.

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At that time, titles and honors were of far greater
practical importance than they are today. Unless a person had
some kind of prefix or suffix, all doors were closed
to him, and everyone who did not have a title
of nobility by the accident of birth would endeavor to
obtain an office, or at any rate, an official title,
from some one of the innumerable counts or princelings who
in that day still enjoyed sovereign rights. Meyer amshkill Rothschild,

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being a shrewd man with an astonishing knowledge of human nature.
For his years, he was only twenty five concentrated on
using his connection with the Prince of Hanau to obtain
a court title. He hoped thereby not merely to raise
his prestige generally, but more particularly to advance his relations
with other princes interested in coins. In seventeen sixty nine,

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he wrote a most humble petition to the Prince of Hanau,
in which, after referring to various goods delivered to the
Prince to his Highness's most gracious satisfaction, he begged that
he might most graciously be granted the advantage of being
appointed court agent. Meyer Amskill promised always to devote all
his energy and property to the Prince's service, and he
concluded his letter with a perfectly sincere statement that if

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he received the designation in question, he hoped thereby to
gain business esteem, and that it would otherwise enable him
to make his fortune in the city of Frankfort. This letter,
which was written in a style expressive of extreme humility,
was the first of an almost endless series of petitions
which the various members of the House of Rothschild were
to address in the course of the nineteenth century to

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those occupying the seats of the Mighty. Many of these
were favorably considered and assisted no little in establishing the
fortunes of that house. This, the first of the series,
was granted, and the nomination was duly carried into effect
on September twenty first seen sixty nine. Henceforth to the
name of Rothschild was attached the decorative suffix crown Agent

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to the Principality of Hessehano. This more or less corresponded
with the present day practice under which a tradesman made
display the royal coat of arms with the legend by
special appointment, et cetera. It was a mere designation carrying
no obligation, and although it gave expression to the fact
that a business man enjoyed the patronage of a customer
in the highest circles, it did not imply any official

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status whatever. Nevertheless, this first success gave much joy to
meyr Amskill, since it not only enabled him to make
great profits in his old coin business, but gave his
firm a special prestige with the world at large, as
even the smallest prince shed a certain glamor upon all
who came anywhere near his magic circle. And the Prince
of Hanna was grandson of the King of England, husband

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of the daughter of the King of Denmark, and destined
to be the ruler of Hesse Cassel at the age
of twenty five. Meyer Amskill was a tall, impressive looking
man of pronounced Hebraic type. His expression, if rather sly,
was good natured, in accordance with the custom of those
times he wore a wig, although as he was a Jew,
he was not allowed to have it powdered, and in

(19:12):
accordance with the customs of his race, he wore a
small pointed black beard. When he took stock of his
business and his little property, he could say to himself
with justice that he had not merely administered his inheritance intelligently,
but substantially increased it. Although he could certainly not be
classed amongst the wealthy men of Frankfort, or even amongst
the wealthy Jews of that city, he could assuredly be

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described as well off, and was in a position to
think of founding a family. He had been attracted for
some time by the youthful daughter of a tradesman called
Wolf Solomon Schnapper, who lived not far from the Rothschild's
house in the Jewish Quarter. She was seventeen years old
when Meyer Amskill courted her, had been brought up in
all the domestic virtues, was simple and modest and exceedingly industrious,

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and brought a dowry with her. Witch, though small, was
in solid cash. Meyor Amskill's marriage was celebrated on August
twenty ninth, seventeen seventy After his marriage, he would have
liked to move from the house sur hinter Fan, which
he rented, into a house of his own, but he
could not yet afford to do so. The young couple's

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first child, a daughter, was born as early as seventeen
seventy one, after which followed three boys in the year
seventeen seventy three, seventeen seventy four seventeen seventy five, who
were given the names Amskill, Solomon, and Nathan. While his
wife was fully occupied in bringing up the children and
running the house, Meyer Amschkill developed his business, in which

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his invalid brother Kawman was a partner until he died
in seventeen eighty two. Without neglecting his ordinary business of
money changing, he bought secal collections of coins from media
aristocratic collectors in the district, and he had an antique
coin catalog of his own printed, which he circulated widely,
especially among such princes as were interested in numismatics. He

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sent such catalogs to Gerda's patron, Duke Carl August of Weimer,
to Duke Carl Theodore of the Palatinate, and of course
always to his own benefactor at Hanau, Prince William. The
prince's mother still kept him away from his father Landgrave Frederick,
who was ruling at Cassel and who made several unsuccessful
attempts to get into touch with his son. William had

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married Princess Caroline of Denmark six years before Meyer Amschkik's marriage,
but from the first moment of their union, they had
realized that they were not suited to one another. Indeed,
so little physical or spiritual harmony was there between the
young couple that their marriage might be regarded as an
absolute affliction. It finally led to William's entirely neglecting his

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wife and living with numerous favorites who bore him children.
The families Hanau, Heimrod and Hessenstein are the descendants of
such unions. It being William's practice to obtain titles for
his illegitimate children from the Emperor of Austria in return
for the monies he lent to him. It is difficult
to verify the fantastic figures given as to the total

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number of his illegitimate children, but there is no doubt
they were very numerous. When he assumed the government of
his small territory, William of Hanau was in a position
to play the role of absolute ruler, and his highly
marked individuality immediately made itself felt. He was insolent even
with the nobility, and often observed that he did not
like them to take advantage of any marks of familiar

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condescension that he showed them. On the other hand, he
did not show any p or ida in dealing with
persons whom he thought would serve his interests. He was
exceedingly suspicious, quick to see a point, and easily made angry,
especially if his divine right was questioned. He held broad
views in religious matters, associated much with Freemasons, and practiced

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complete religious tolerance. Under his rule, the Jews enjoyed all
kinds of liberties. They did not, for instance, have to
display in the market signs to distinguish them from Christian tradespeople. Indeed,
William took pleasure in their marked talent for business, for
in this matter he felt himself to be a kindred spirit.
Business considerations governed him even when he was specifically considering

(23:11):
the welfare of his soldiers. He would concern himself with
the smallest details of their equipment, would pass the new recruits,
and would give precise instructions as to the length of
the pigtail to be worn. He was particularly fond of
parades and tortured his men with drill and button polishing.
Point One reason he was particularly anxious that his troops
should look smart was that he could make a great

(23:32):
deal of money by following the example of his father
and grandfather in selling his men to England. His father,
Landgrave Frederick, had in this way gradually transferred to England
twelve thousand Hessians and amassed an enormous fortune in the process.
In the same way, William sold to England in seventeen
seventy six the small Hanau regiment which he had just formed.

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The conditions of such subsidy contracts were exceedingly oppressive to
the customer, as he had to pay some of stantial
compensation for any man who was killed or wounded. The
crown Prince also increased his property considerably by this means.
After deducting all expenses, he realized a net profit of
about three million, five hundred thousand marks from this business.

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And there being no distinction between the public and the
private purse of a prince, this money was at his
absolute personal disposal. In spite of his princely origin. Such
were the business instincts of this talented young man that
this financial success simply whtted his appetite for amassing greater riches.
Had William not been destined to succeed to the throne
of Hesse, he would have been an outstandingly successful man

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of business. As it was, he found such outlet as
he could for his commercial instincts within the sphere of
his princely dignity. Father and son continued to accumulate large
capital sums, and they refrained from bringing over to the
continent substantial proportions of the subsidy moneys which they invested
in England itself. The management of these funds was in

(25:00):
entrusted to the Amsterdam financial house van Dernden. England did
not always pay in cash, but often in bills of
exchange that had to be discounted. For this purpose, the
Prince and his officials had to employ suitable middlemen in
large commercial centers like Frankfort. Although the middlemen had to
get their profit out of the business, they could not
be dispensed within view of the restricted means of transport

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and communication at that time. Purchases and sales had to
be carefully regulated to prevent the market from being suddenly
flooded with bills, the rate of exchange being consequently depressed.
This work fell to the various Crown agents and factors.
Of these, the Jew Veatal David was the principal one
attached to the land Grave at Castle Rothschild. Being employed

(25:42):
only by the Crown Prince at Hanau and only in
exchange business, and to a limited extent in conjunction with
several others, his personal relation with the Prince was at
first exceedingly slender, for, however enlightened he might be, a
ruling prince did not easily associate with a Jew, and
only long years of useful service acting upon a temperament
such as Williams, could break down such natural obstacles. In

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the first instance, men of business had to deal with
the Crown Prince's officials. To get on good terms with
them was a primary essential for anybody who wanted to
do business with the Prince. One of the most influential
members of the Crown Prince's civil service was an official
at the Treasury called Carl Frederick Butus. He was the
son of a Hanau schoolmaster and had shown a special

(26:27):
aptitude for the duties of a careful and accurate treasury clerk.
His father had been writing and music master to the
children of the Crown Prince's mistress, Frau Vaughan Ridderlinenthal, ancestress
of the Hainos, and this had given him the opportunity
of bringing to the Crown Prince's attention a plan of
his sons for increasing the milk profits from one of
the Prince's dairies by the simple expedient of forbidding the

(26:50):
practice adopted by the office concerned of omitting fractions of
a heller in the accounts. Young Butterus showed that this
would increase the revenue by one hundred and twenty fives.
This discovery appealed so strongly to the avaricious Prince, who
counted every hapeny, that he entrusted Butterus with the accounts
of his private purse in addition to his normal duties.

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Deuterus henceforth displayed the greatest zeal in looking after the
financial interests of the Crown Prince. He is generally credited
with having been responsible for the introduction of the salt tax,
when the problem of providing for the Prince's innumerable natural
children became pressing. The resulting increase in the cost of
this important article of diet was heavily felt, especially by

(27:33):
the poorest inhabitants of Hesse Cassel. There being no distinction
between the public treasury and the private purse, we can
readily imagine how great this man's influence. As Moreover, the
officials of that period were always personally interested on a
percentage basis in the financial dealings which they carried through
in their official capacity. By arrangement with amenable crown agents

(27:55):
with whom they had to deal, they could without any
suggestion of bribery or of acting again, since the influence
of their master easily so arranged matters, that their personal
interests would be better served by a clever agent than
by one who was less adaptable. Meyer Amskial brought to
his work a certain natural flair for psychology, and he
always endeavored to create personal links wherever he possibly could.

(28:17):
He naturally made a special point of being on good
terms with the Hanau treasury officials, and especially with Butus.
They however, had not as yet sufficient confidence in the
financial resources of the Frankfort jew Rothschild to entrust to
him anything except the smaller transactions. Through the death of
Landgrave Frederick, the Crown Prince suddenly succeeded to the throne

(28:39):
of Hessecastle and to the most extensive property of any
German prince of that period. On October thirty first, seventeen
eighty five, his father, Frederick too had suddenly had a
stroke during his midday meal and had fallen off his chair,
dying a few minutes later. This news came as a
complete surprise to the Crown Prince, as his father had

(28:59):
latterly scarce ever been ill. William of Hanau accordingly succeeded
to the throne of Hessecastle as Landgrave William the ninth.
On reading his father's will, he learn with pleasure that
the country was free of debt, and that he had
come into an enormous property. The subsidies received for the
sale of mercenaries had been most profitably invested, and estimates

(29:20):
the value of the inheritance varied between twenty and sixty
million thalers, unparalleled sums for those times. The new land
Grave united his private property at Hanau with his inherited possessions,
and now found himself disposing of an amount of money
which conferred far greater power on him than his new dignity.
He moved his residence from Hanau, which was close to Frankfort,

(29:41):
to Castle, which lay much farther north, with the result
that meyer Amskill Rothschild's relations with the Hessian court at
first suffered from the greater distance which separated him from
his patron. But the Jewish tradesman was determined not to
lose such a useful connection without a struggle. In order
to remind the new land Grave of his existence, he
visited Castle again in seventeen eighty seven, bringing with eachim

(30:04):
a remarkably beautiful collection of coins, medals, and jeweled gold chains,
and offered these wares to the land Grave at exceptionally
low prices. The Prince at once appreciated the real value
of the articles and eagerly did business with Meyer Amskill,
who took advantage of the opportunity to submit the humble
request that he should not be forgotten if any future
bills of exchange required discounting or the Prince wanted to

(30:27):
purchase English coins. Rothschild had deliberately made a loss on
these small deals in order to secure the chance of
much more profitable business in the future, and his valuable
articles were readily purchased from him because they were cheap
promises being freely made with regard to the future. But
two years passed without his services being asked for. He

(30:48):
stood by enviously seeing other agents getting bills to discount
and being asked to pay interest only after six or
eight months, or else to pay over the money in installments,
an arrangement equivalent to allowing the firms concerned substantial free credits.
Rothschild had closely followed the business dealings of these firms
and had thought out a very useful way of transacting

(31:09):
such matters if he should be entrusted with them. He
decided to pay another call at Kassel. During the summer
of seventeen eighty nine. He wrote a letter to the
Landgrave in which he referred to the services that he
had rendered during a long course of years as Hessehnau
Crown Agent, and asked to be considered in connection with
the bills of exchange business on a credit basis that
I in order to put himself on a level with

(31:31):
his rivals, he promised always to do business at a
price at least as high as that offered by any
banker in Gassel. The petition, which shows that Rothschild already
had control of considerable sums of money, was submitted to
the Landgrave by Butterus, but William decided that he mustify
Rst obtained further information about Rothschild's business. His inquiries all

(31:52):
produced satisfactory results. Meyer Amskill was described as being punctual
in his payments and as being an energetic and honorable man,
who therefore deserved to be granted credit, even if precise
figures regarding the extent of his possessions could not be obtained. Nevertheless,
Rothschild received only a comparatively small credit transaction to carry out,

(32:13):
whilst simultaneously at transaction thirty times as great was entrusted
to Vatal David. But though modest, it was a beginning. Bututerus,
whose position in the meantime had been steadily increasing in importance,
often had a cassion to travel between Castle and Frankfort
on business matters. We have evidence of the fact that
as early as seventeen ninety he had business dealings with

(32:34):
Rothschild's father in law, Wolf Solomon Snapper, and it was
Schnapper who brought him and meyer Amskill together. Rothschild would
often get advance information of Butterus's journeys to Frankfort so
that he could go and see him when he came.
The Hessian official heard from other sources in Frankfort of
the clever Jew's rising reputation and of how he always
met his obligations punctually. Butterus was also gradually influenced by

(32:59):
roth's Child's own persuasive powers. As early as November seventeen
ninety Butterous's accounts contain an entry regarding a draft of
two thousand labdler to the order of the Crown agent
Meyer Amskill Rothchild. Rothschild now urged Butterus, if occasion should arise,
to recommend him to the land Grave for substantial dealings.

(33:19):
Also in seventeen ninety four, an opportunity for this occurred.
The capital sums invested by Hesse in England had grown
to a very considerable amount, and the Landgrave gave instructions
that a portion of them should be brought over to Cassel.
In addition to the Christian banking firm of Simon Morrit's
Vaughan Bethmann, which had been established in Frankfort for centuries

(33:41):
and four other firms. Butterus put forward the name of
the Crown Agent Rothchild as suitable for carrying through this transaction.
The land Grave, however, attached far too much importance to
his old connection with Bethman at that time the outstanding
banking firm in Germany, and with the other old established firms,
and on this occasion two Rothschild was left out, but

(34:02):
it did not occur again. In the end, Butterus's efforts
were successful in overcoming the land graves aversion, and henceforward
Rothschild also was employed to an increasing extent in discounting
bills and in other business. His dealings with the court
at Castle soon became very active, and as Meyer Amskill
carried through the matters entrusted to him not merely conscientiously,

(34:24):
but with a shrewd eye to gain, the profits which
he derived from them increased considerably. It was necessary for
the young household that business should be brisk, for in
seventeen eighty eight another son, Karl Meyer, was born, and
in seventeen ninety two a fifth son, Jacob called James,
and Meyer Amskill's marriage had also been blessed with five daughters,

(34:45):
there was the large family of twelve persons to feed. However,
Meyer Amschkill's flourishing business was not merely adequate to support
his family, but there was a considerable and constantly increasing
surplus available for increasing his business capital. In seventeen eight
eighty five, as an outward and visible sign of his
increasing prosperity, he bought a handsome residence, the house known

(35:06):
as Zoom Grun and Schild, while he transferred to a relative,
the house Sioux hinter Fan, in which he had lived
hitherto and which he had partially purchased since being nominated
Crown Agend. The house into which the Rothchild family now
moved is still standing almost as it was then. It
is the right half of a building comprising two quite
small family dwellings typical of the straitened circumstances of the

(35:27):
Jewish quarter. Only the three left windows of the house
front belonged to the Rothschild's, and above the first door
was a small, scarcely noticeable, five sided convex green shield.
The right half of the building, known as the house
Sioux Archie, belonged to the Jewish family shift who kept
a second hand shop in it. Over the door was
a small carved ship representing the boat of Columbus. As

(35:51):
the door of the Rothchild house was opened, an ancient
bell was set ringing, sending its warning notes right through
the house. Every step one took revealed the painful congestion
in which the Jews of that period were compelled to exist,
the only quarters where they were allowed to live being
comprised within the small and narrow Jew street. Everything in
the house was very narrow, and each particle of space

(36:14):
was turned to account. A creaking wooden staircase underneath which
cupboards had been built in, led to the upper floor
and to the little green room of Goodla, the mistress
of the house, so called because the modest furniture in
it was upholstered and green. In a glass case on
the table was the withered bridal wreath of meyer Amshkill's wife.

(36:34):
Led into the left wall was a small secret cupboard,
concealed by a mirror hanging in front of it. In
this matter, too, space was carefully utilized, there being cupboards
built into the wall wherever possible, such as are now
coming into use again. On the ground floor was the
parent small bedroom, while the numerous children had to share
one other little room. A narrow passage led to a

(36:57):
kind of roof terrace, a tiny roof gold garden with
a few plants. As the Jews were not allowed in
the public gardens, this roof garden furnished a modest substitute
and served as the family recreation ground. As it is
laid down that the feast of the Tabernacle must be
celebrated in the open air, and there was no other
place available, the little roof garden was used for this purpose.

(37:20):
Behind the house and overlooking the narrow courtyard was a
room about nine feet square, which was actually the first
banking house of the rothchilds. Its most important particle of
furniture was a large iron chest with an enormous padlock. However,
the lock was so contrived that the chest could not
be opened on the side where the lock was, but

(37:40):
only by lifting the lid from the back. In this room, too,
there were secret shelves cleverly concealed in the walls. The
kitchen of the house was very modest, the room being
about twelve feet long and only about five feet broad.
A tiny hearth which could accommodate only one cooking pot,
a chest and a bench were about all that it contained.

(38:00):
There was one fixture that constituted a great luxury for
those times, a primitive pump which conveyed drinking water direct
to the kitchen. Such was the scene of the early
activities of Meyer Amschell and his sons, whose energy and
enterprise laid the foundations for the future development of their house.
Bergheiffer's researches indicate that the annual income of the House

(38:21):
of Rothschild before the war period of the seventeen nineties
may be estimated at between two thousand and three thousand golden.
We are better able to realize what this meant when
we consider that the expenditure of Gerda's family, who were
people of position, was about two thousand, four hundred golden
a year. On such an income, it was possible to
live quite comfortably at Frankfort at that time. Although the

(38:43):
political disturbances which were developing soon began to produce their effect,
events profoundly affecting the course of all future history had
taken place. The repercussions of the French Revolution were felt
throughout Europe. There was no one, whether prince of peasant,
who did not directly or indirectly feel its. The principle
of equality, which it proclaimed, aroused emotions of hope or

(39:06):
dismay throughout the world according to the social position of
each individual. On the standards of the revolutionary armies was
inscribed their determination to extend the benefits of their achievements
throughout the world, and those who had seized the reigns
of power were soon to aim at world dominion. This
fact constituted a special menace to the German princes, whose
territories bordered on France. The refugees of the French nobility

(39:30):
flooded Germany, and many of them arrived at the castle
court Landgrave William had occasioned to hear many of the
terrible stories told by the emigrants who had lost their
nearest relatives under the guillotine and had been forced to
go abroad as homeless refugees reduced to absolute poverty. The
impression gained from the sufferers themselves, The news regarding the
threatened execution of the king and his consort, and the

(39:52):
reports of the cruel treatment meted out to all who
enjoyed princely or noble privileges, caused him to tremble for
his crown, as all the princes of Europe were trembling.
He was also concerned about his enormous wealth, a special
source of danger at such a time, and he therefore
did not require much pressing to join the Great Coalition
of Princes against revolutionary France. At the head of this

(40:14):
coalition was Francis of Austria, who was shortly to be
elected Emperor, and who had been the first to ally
himself with Prussia against France. Landgrave William attached particular importance
to his relations with the man who was shortly to
be emperor, and in a letter to the most excellent,
most puisent King and highly honored cousin, he hastened to
promise his military help as a proof of his most

(40:36):
special devotion to your high wishes. Francis of Austria expressed
his gratitude and observed that this should serve as an
example to others, especially as not only every territorial prince
and government of whatever kind they may be, but also
every private person possessed of any property, or who has
been blessed by God with any possessions or rights acquired
by inheritance or otherwise, must realize with ever growing confer

(41:01):
that the war is a universal war declared upon all states,
all forms of government, and even upon all forms of
private property and any orderly regulation of human society, as
is clearly proved by the chaotic condition and internal desolation
of France and her raging determination to spread similar conditions
throughout the world. But the Union of Princes had much

(41:23):
underrated the offensive of revolutionary France. Under the handicap of
bad leadership and lack of unity, the Allies were unable
to prevail against the revolutionary armies inspired by the ideals
of liberty and nationalism. Prussia and Hesse were forced to retire,
and the French general du Custine actually succeeded in crossing
the Rhine in seventeen ninety two and reaching Frankfort, with

(41:46):
the result that William retired in a panic to castle,
greatly concerned about his crown treasures. With rage and indignation,
he read the French Manifesto to the Hessian soldiers, which
urged them to forsake the tyrant and tiger who sold
their blood in order to fill his chest. The landgrave
finally succeeded in driving the small French force out of Frankfort,

(42:07):
This cost him a considerable sum of money, but his
loss was made good by a new subsidy contract under
which he delivered eight thousand Hessian soldiers to England, which
had joined the coalition against France. Mayer, Amskill, Rothschild and
his rivals were kept fully occupied in discounting the bills
received from England in connection with this transaction. When in

(42:27):
seventeen ninety five Prussia withdrew from the war against the
French Republic, the Landgrave of Hesse followed her example. His
ambition now was to have the comparatively modest title of
Landgrave changed and to attain electoral rank that I. In
the meantime he had been created a Field Marshal of Prussia,
and in seventeen ninety six, when Napoleon's star was in

(42:48):
the ascendant, relations between the two countries were particularly cordial
that I. Enspite, however, of the secession of Prussia and Hesse,
England and Austria continued to carry on the War of
the Coalition with vs varying success. Whilst Bonaparte was victorious
in Italy, the Archduke Karl gained a series of successes
in the south of Germany, Frankfort had to suffer again

(43:09):
from the vicissitudes of war. On July thirteenth, seventeen ninety six,
it was actually bombarded by the French, with the result
that some of the houses in a Jewish quarter one
hundred and fifty six buildings, including the synagogue, most of
which were inferior wooden structures, were set on fire. The
Rothchild House, which was one of the best constructed buildings

(43:30):
in the street, suffered only slight damage. In view of
the time required to rebuild these houses, a departure had
to be made from the ghetto precinct and the Jews
had to be allowed to reside in trade outside the
strictly defined boundary. The Rothschilds were among those who took
advantage of this favorable opportunity and transferred their merchandise business

(43:50):
they were dealing increasingly in war requirements such as cloth,
food stuffs and wine, to the schnur Gas which lay
near the center of the town, renting accommodation at a
leather dealers. The military developments of the First Coalition War,
in which meyer Amschkill's princely customer at Cassel was actively
engaged with varying fortunes entailed considerably increased activity on the

(44:12):
part of the various Crown agents in the land Grave service.
Although the war had caused not a little damage to Frankfort,
it had brought the town certain indirect advantages. The Frankfort
burse benefited by the decline of the Amsterdam Borse, which
had hitherto held a dominating position, and which almost completely
collapsed when the French conquered Holland in seventeen ninety five.

(44:33):
The result was that much more business came the way
of the Frankfort bankers and meyer Amskill. Rothschild's financial and
trading business, which was closely associated with war requirements, increased
by leaps and bounds. The war profits realized at that
time formed the raal foundation of the enormous fortune that
was later built up by the house of Rothschild. It was,

(44:55):
of course impossible any longer completely to conceal such large
profits until seventeen ninety for the family property had for
twenty years been assessed at the constant figure of only
two thousand golden, and they had paid taxes in accordance
with this assessment amounting to about thirteen golden annually. Suddenly,
in the year seventeen ninety five, this amount was doubled,

(45:16):
and in a year after that Rothschild was included amongst
those whose property was worth fifteen thousand golden or more,
that being the highest figure adopted for assessment purposes. Meanwhile,
the three eldest sons had grown up and after the
age of twenty, were associated with their father in the
business to an increasing extent. Like their two eldest sisters,
they were placed in responsible positions and rendered active assistance

(45:38):
to their father. A large family, which to so many
people is a cause of worry and anxiety, was in
this case a positive blessing, as there was abundance of
work for everybody. It made it unnecessary for Meyer Amskill
to take strangers into his business and let them into
the various secret and subtle moves of the game. Since
the number of available children increased in proportion as the

(45:59):
business expanded, it was possible to keep all the confidential
positions in the family. The strong traditional community and family
sense of the Jews, reinforced by persecution from outside, compelling
them to unite in their own defense, did wonders. The
two eldest sons had been zealously engaged in a business
from boyhood, and their father wisely encouraged them by letting

(46:21):
them share personally in the business, apart from the general
family interest in its prosperity. When the eldest daughter married
in seventeen ninety five, the son in law, Moses Worms
was not employed in the business, but when the eldest son,
amskll Meyer, married in seventeen ninety six, the daughter in law,
Eva Hana was given a post. In spite of the

(46:41):
growing number of available members of the family, Meyer Amskill
found it necessary also to engage bookkeepers with a knowledge
of languages, as the Rothschild family at that time were
all quite uneducated, speaking and writing only a bad kind
of Frankfurt Yiddish German apart from Hebrew, and in view
of their expanding connections with persons in the highest circles,
they had to pay particular attention to matters of epistolary style.

(47:05):
As the only person he could find capable of carrying
out this work was a Christian girl, Rothschild did not
hesitate to take her into the business. It was at
this period that Meyer Amskill entered into a highly elaborate
deed of partnership with his two eldest sons, which provided
that profits and losses should be divided between the three
partners according to a definite scheme. The growing demands upon

(47:28):
the treasury arising out of the war served to develop
the relations with the Landgrave of Hesse. After the separate
piece of Basil, William of Hesse adopted the attitude of
an impartial observer of the warlike activities in Europe, and
occupied himself principally in the profitable administration of his extensive possessions.
He was no stranger to the authentic delights of avarice.

(47:49):
Great though his wealth was, his appetite for increasing it
remained keen. He showed the greatest ingenuity in affecting savings
of every kind, and spent all his spare time things
making out schemes for the profitable investment of the large
cash resources which were accumulating in his treasury. The ruling
land grave gradually became a banker to the whole world,

(48:09):
advancing his money not only to princes and nobles, but
also to small shopkeepers and jews, and even to artisans
where he could get good interest. The amounts lent ranged
from hundreds of thousands to a few sailers according to
the financial repute of his customers. Cobblers and tailors paid
the same rate of interest for small advances as princes

(48:30):
for heavy ones. The debts were all accurately registered in
account books, making up an enormous number of volumes. If
a banker wanted to borrow from him, he had to
deposit government securities with the land Grave. Thus his enormous
fortune consisted of cash, jewels, art, treasures and coins, as
well as acknowledgments of sums, lent and debenture certificates deposited

(48:52):
as security. The withdrawal in seventeen ninety five of Prussia
and Hesse from the war against France had resulted in
the temporary estrangement of the Austrian Emperor Francis, but he
and the Landgrave soon re established cordial relations, for each
of them had need of the other. William desired support
in the acquisition of territory and in his efforts to

(49:12):
attain the dignity of elector, while the Emperor was sadly
in lack of funds owing to the long war with France.
The Landgrave therefore asked the Emperor's support in his aims.
The Emperor wrote on September eighth, seventeen ninety seven, to
say that he appreciated the efforts which his cousin was
making on his behalf, and was grateful to learn that
the Landgrave was sympathetic to his need for a loan.

(49:34):
I also believe, he wrote, as it is my duty
to do in your sentiments of loyalty to me and
to my house, of which I have received special proof
in the matter of the loan that is being negotiated
by her corn rumth I flatter myself that your Highness
will carry this through to my complete satisfaction. Your Highness
may rest assured that for my part, one sincerely wished

(49:55):
to be of service to you. Also. The details of
such transactions were generally negotiated by Jewish agents, and although
meyer Amskill was not employed on this occasion, he was
soon to serve as the middleman between the Landgrave and
the Emperor. This was made possible by the fact that
Rothschild's wealth had increased rapidly during the last years of
the war. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, it

(50:18):
cannot have been far short of a million gulden. The
transfer of bills of exchange cash payments and the consignments
of merchandise from England. The principal supply of the Frankfurter platts,
which in its turn supplied the whole of Germany, made
it necessary to appoint a representative on the other side
of the channel. As it was essential that any such
representative should be a trustworthy person. The obvious thing was

(50:41):
to appoint one of the live sons. The two eldest
Amskill and Solomon, who in seventeen ninety eight were twenty
five and twenty four years old, respectively, were thoroughly initiated
into the Frankfort business. The third son, Nathan, a highly
gifted young man of twenty one, intensely industrial and with
a very independent spirit, felt that his elder brothers did

(51:03):
not give him sufficient scope. In spite of his youth,
he too benefited by the wise arrangements of his father,
and had his own personal share in the business and
in the family property. As the continental states, owing to
war and revolution, produced much less but consumed a great
deal more than in normal times, English commercial travelers swarmed

(51:24):
over the continent of Europe, and in seventeen ninety eight
one of them called that the Rothschild's house of business,
and was received by Nathan. English commercial travelers of that
period were exceedingly conscious of the commercial and political supremacy
of their country, and they were wont to adopt an
arrogant manner, as they felt that the continent was dependent
upon their goods. The englishman's manner annoyed Nathan Rothchild, and

(51:47):
he met his arrogance with brusqueness, whereupon the foreigner took
his departure. This incident was the immediate cause that decided
Nathan to propose to his father that he should go
to England himself in order to become a merchant there
on his own own account, and also to represent the
firm of Rothschild generally. His father and brothers did not
show any opposition to the enterprising young man, and supported

(52:08):
his decision in every way. Nathan took asthmic ready money
with him as was practicable, and the rest he had
sent on after him. The capital which he brought with
him to England amounted altogether to a sum of about
twenty thousand pounds or a quarter of a million gulden.
About a fifth of this sum was his own money,
the rest belonged to the business. The action of his

(52:29):
father and brothers showed great confidence in this young man
who did not even know the language of the country
he was about to enter as a complete stranger. Their
confidence was to be justified, for Nathan was destined to
become the outstanding figure in the Rothskilled business. This first
branch establishment of the House of Rothchild resulted from the
family relationships and the requirements of the trade with England,

(52:52):
without any preconceived plan and without the remotest idea of
the importance of this step for the future of the business.
The Napoleon epoch which followed upon the French Revolution, was
to be the occasion for the foundation of a second
branch in Paris, and for the first collaboration between the
brothers Rothschild in Frankfurt, London and Paris.

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RISE OF ROTHSCHILD - 1. Origins and Early Activities of the Frankfort Family Rothschild - Count Egon Caesar Corti

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}RISE OF ROTHSCHILD - 1. Origins and Early Activities of the Frankfort Family Rothschild - Count Egon Caesar Corti