Mayer Amschel Rothschild is the founder of the Rothschild dynasty. The life story and business philosophy of Mayer Rothschild Mayer Rothschild biography

The founder of the Rothschild clan, Mayer Amschel Bauer, was born 270 years ago - in 1744. His family lived in the Judengasse, the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt am Main. And his father's name was Amschel Moses Bauer. It ran a small money changer's office with a big red sign above it. In German, "red sign" is Rot Schild. So actually the name appeared, which has now become a household name, meaning luxury and wealth. This transformation took place in the following way.

Mayer Amschel was not even eleven when his father died in 1754, followed by his mother. Becoming an orphan, he was placed in a free school, but he did not like teaching, and the young man devoted himself entirely to one thing - numismatics. Every day he searched the landfills for an out-of-circulation coin, a worn medal, or some old badge. After cleaning the finds and giving them a marketable appearance, he successfully sold them to collectors.

In 1757, 13-year-old Mayer Amschel was sent to Hanover to study at the bank of Szymon Wolff Oppenheimer. There he learned the basics of finance, got acquainted with the coins of other countries, learned to easily identify fakes and quickly calculate favorable exchange rates.

In 1760, Mayer Amschel returned to Frankfurt, changed his surname from Bauer to Rothschild and continued his father's business: he engaged in the exchange and sale of coins and medals. Very soon he became very famous among lovers of antiquity. Having saved money, he opened his own antique shop, in which it was possible to change the money of some German principalities for others. So, gradually, the first semblance of a Rothschild bank arose.

The path from numismatics to finance is quite natural, and Mayer Amschel became a financier, as he was a numismatist, purely out of his own interest. It's just that now a lot more different money passed through it than before. He was not yet rich, but he was distinguished by self-confidence and sociability. And people reached out to him, including very rich people.

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The duties of the hofffactor were to increase the prince's treasury, cover his expenses for the army, luxury goods, supply the yard, kitchen and stables. In case of success, the hofffactor received a reward in the form of a part of the prince's income and respect at court; in case of failure, ruin, trial, and even execution could follow.

But Mayer Amschel coped with his duties perfectly, and at the age of 26 (August 29, 1770) he married the 17-year-old Guttle Schnapper, the daughter of the usurer Wolf Solomon Schnapper. At the same time, he founded his first bank in Frankfurt. And, I must say, his business went very well. The fact is that the first Rothschild was distinguished by exceptional business acumen. Transportation of currency in those days was very expensive, besides, there was always a risk of running into robbers. And Mayer Amschel found a very simple solution to this problem: he bought wool and cotton in England at low prices, and then sold them in Europe for much more.

And of course, his acquaintance with Wilhelm IX, one of the richest German princes, who actively traded in hired soldiers, played into his hands. For example, in 1785, it was he who profitably sold 17,000 soldiers to the English King George III for the war against the American colonists. And this deal was not without Mayer Amschel Rothschild.

And then Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, and France began aggressive wars in Europe. In 1806, when the French invaded Hesse, Landgrave Wilhelm IX (in 1803 he became elector under the name Wilhelm I) was forced to flee the country, and before that he made the 62-year-old Mayer Amschel a confidant, leaving him almost all of his condition. And the banker continued to collect money from the princely debtors and was even able to significantly increase the amount left to him for management. At the same time, he did not forget about his personal interest. In any case, Wilhelm preferred thalers, and the British paid Rothschild in pounds, so that Mayer Amschel could become rich on the mere difference in exchange rates.

And he became one. And he proudly reported to his patron that he had managed to double his fortune, which further strengthened the trust and respect of the princely family for him.

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Undoubtedly, Napoleonic Wars were beneficial to Rothschild, and he stimulated them in every possible way, cashing in on endless military orders. But Napoleon was not so simple, and he refused Mayer Amschel to join his financial empire to his own. Moreover, in February 1800 he created the Bank of France, independent of Rothschild. And in April 1803 he held monetary reform, introducing silver and gold francs, and the Bank of France received the exclusive right to issue money.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was outraged, and Napoleon said that if the government is financially dependent on the bankers, then the country is run not by the government, but by the bankers. He said: “The hand that gives is always higher than the hand that takes. The financiers have no patriotism and honesty, their only goal is the cleansing.”

But he needed money, and therefore, in the same 1803, Napoleon gave the United States French lands in North America. The size of the sold territory was then approximately 2.1 million square meters. km, and the transaction price was 15 million dollars (or 80 million French francs). And in carrying out this transaction, Napoleon did not use the Rothschild bank, but its direct competitors - the Baring banking house in London and the Hope bank in Amsterdam.

With the money from this deal, Napoleon quickly equipped an army and continued to spread his influence throughout Europe, conquering everything in his path. And his military machine went astray only in 1812 in Russia.

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He died on September 19, 1812, at the age of 68, leaving behind a huge capital and five sons.

The eldest was Amschel Rothschild, who was born in Frankfurt am Main on June 12, 1773. Then came Solomon Rothschild, born September 9, 1774, Nathan Rothschild, born September 16, 1777, and Karl (Kalman) Rothschild, born April 24, 1788. The youngest was James (Jacob) Rothschild, who was born on May 15, 1792.

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In fact, the Rothschild clan decided to “topple” Napoleon, and for this he began to actively finance the British and Russians, that is, his main opponents.

As you know, Napoleon really did not want to fight with Russia, but he was forced to do this, and the "hand" of the Rothschilds could not do here. In any case, when in 1812 the main backbone of the Napoleonic army was in Russia, Nathan Rothschild came up with an ingenious plan to finance the "second front", that is, the activities of the army of the Duke of Wellington in the Iberian Peninsula. To do this, Nathan Rothschild bought gold from the East India Company for the amount of 800 thousand pounds (then pounds!) and then sold this gold, so necessary for Wellington to conduct military operations, to the government of England. Naturally, he did this with huge profits. However, the British did not know how to transfer this gold to Wellington through French territory. And then the Rothschilds themselves took up this risky business.

The essence of the operation they carried out is as follows: first, James Rothschild unexpectedly appeared in Paris, and then his brothers wrote letters to him, which contained feigned complaints that they were going to take the gold from England to Spain, but the British government allegedly flatly denied them this. At the same time, the Rothschilds made sure that their messages to their brother would definitely fall into the hands of the French secret police. And the French Ministry of Finance swallowed the "bait". If the enemies of the British are against the gold sailing away from England, they decided in the French ministry, it is necessary to help these same Rothschilds so that they can still take out this gold of theirs ...

Thus the letter trick succeeded, and the Rothschild government helped the Rothschilds to end up with the gold in Spain, where it entered Wellington's army, which fought successfully against the French.

Later, at one of the business dinners in London, Nathan Rothschild boasted that it was the best deal in his life. However, then, in 1812, he did not yet know that he and his brothers really had the best financial transaction yet to come.

By the way, it is worth noting that the Rothschilds also profited well from the Continental blockade of England, introduced by Napoleon by decree of October 27, 1806. At that time, Europe could only get British colonial goods (spices, cotton, tobacco, coffee, etc.) through smuggling. So Nathan Rothschild created a reliable network of smugglers who passed through any Napoleonic cordons. And, of course, the prices for these items were fantastic.

As for Napoleon, before that he had to fight exclusively with the armies of enemy states. Here he was an unsurpassed genius and won one victory after another. But now the emperor had to confront a new enemy, whose name is world capital. The Rothschild brothers were the living personification of this new enemy, therefore it was them that Napoleon considered the main enemies of his great mission, officially promising 500 thousand francs in gold for their physical elimination. But the talented commander turned out to be helpless in the face of this new enemy, because the laws of such a "war" were unknown to him. The Rothschilds, having concentrated huge financial resources in their hands, managed to buy both the trust of politicians and the authority of state customers. As a result, in nine out of ten cases of placing state orders for the supply of weapons, gold and grain to the front, officials from state commissions for the supply of the front turned to the Rothschilds. Moreover, a whole queue of twelve states lined up for interest-bearing loans to the Rothschilds, and by the end of the war with Napoleon, the “victor countries” owed over 70 million to the non-philanthropists Rothschilds, who had a developed network of agents, suppliers and couriers for transporting gold throughout Europe. pounds.

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This happened after the defeat of Napoleon in Russia. As you know, in March 1814, Paris fell, and Napoleon was forced to abdicate. Then he was sent into exile on the island of Elba, and then he unexpectedly returned from there and again seized power in France. The period known in history as the "Hundred Days" began, and it ended with the famous battle of Waterloo. At this time, the Rothschilds, who had a well-developed warning system, managed to get the news of Napoleon's defeat a whole day ahead of the official message from the Duke of Wellington. As a result, on June 20, 1815, Nathan Rothschild personally appeared on the London Stock Exchange and, with a sad look, began to sell English government bonds. Not saying a word. He just stood in his usual place on the stock exchange and sold, sold, sold ...

It became clear to everyone that England had lost the war. Otherwise, the experienced Rothschild would have behaved very differently ...

And everyone also rushed to sell their bonds. The market crashed rapidly. Meanwhile, Rothschild agents, waiting for the moment when government paper fell to the lowest level, quickly bought them up, but almost at the price of brown paper. And then came the official announcement of Napoleon's defeat. And the price of bonds skyrocketed...

So Napoleon got his Waterloo, and Nathan Rothschild gained control of the entire British economy. It is estimated that in one day he received over 200 million pounds of net profit. And about the same thing did James Rothschild in Paris.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild correctly said at one time: “Who owns the information, he owns the world!”

Some historians claim that the Rothschilds bribed all the guides of the French army, that all the plans of Napoleon were known to them in great detail, that Nathan Rothschild created his own pigeon mail and even personally came to the Waterloo area.

There is no reliable confirmation of this, but the fact remains: world history has not yet known such transactions, and a century later, the name of Nathan Rothschild was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the name of the most brilliant financier of all time and the representative of the family, which became the richest by the middle of the 19th century in the world. It is not for nothing that the remainder of the 19th century is called the “age of the Rothschilds”.

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It is believed that Robespierre himself was a blind instrument in the hands of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. It was not for nothing that he said: “It seems to me that we are being pushed all the time, against our will, by a “hidden hand”. Every day our Committee of Public Safety does what it decided yesterday not to do.”

And Robespierre was deprived of his life, among other things, because he dared to express his indignation at the fact that foreigners, represented by Adam Weishaupt and other Rothschild agents, turned into real rulers.

Did not want to serve the secret lodges and foreign billionaires and Napoleon. For this he paid. Then, already in exile on the island of St. Helena, he confessed: "I did not want to start a campaign against Russia."

And here is what General Gurgaud, who accompanied Napoleon into exile, wrote in his Memoirs: “What really motivated the military campaign against Russia? I dont know; it is possible that the emperor himself knew no more about this than I did.

Adam Weishaupt - this man in 1776 created the German Secret Society of the Illuminati. And this was done with the funding of Mayer Amschel Rothschild. The purpose of the Illuminati was to improve and ennoble mankind, the destruction of national governments and religious institutions. It was from them that an extensive network of Masonic lodges of the “Great East” system then went. The sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild also became Freemasons. For example, James Rothschild was a 33rd level Scottish Rite Freemason in Paris, and Nathan Rothschild was a high-ranking member of the United Grand Lodge of England in London.

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James Rothschild, who became Commander of the Legion of Honor in France, once said: "Real weapons are not stored in the arsenals of brainless ministers of war, real weapons are stored in my bank."

Napoleon did not want to put up with this, and he was gone. He died on May 5, 1821 in exile, on a distant island lost in the Atlantic Ocean. And his fall, which began in 1812 in Russia, without a doubt, was a real triumph for the Rothschild clan.

The emblem of the clan depicts five arrows connected by a chain, which symbolizes the union of the five sons of the founder of the dynasty. Their motto became the words: Concordia, Integritas, Industria (Consent, Unity, Diligence), and their powerful house became a special independent state among other European states.

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Solomon Rothschild died on July 28 of the same year in Paris. From his marriage to Carolina Stern, he had two children: Amschel Solomon and Betty. And, characteristically, both entered into marriage alliances with close relatives: respectively with Charlotte Rothschild (daughter of uncle Nathan Rothschild) and uncle James Rothschild (founder of the French branch of the dynasty). And their children also married and got married only within the Rothschild family. Such endogamy became one of the basic rules of the Rothschild code, helping to ensure that the accumulated property remained within the family and served the common cause.

By the way, about this code, bequeathed by Rothschild Sr. to his children. It also said that all important positions in business should be held only by family members, and not by employees; that only male descendants can participate in clan affairs, and only direct male heirs can inherit. According to this code, the men of the family had to marry their cousins ​​or second cousins, but the daughters had to try to marry aristocrats while maintaining their faith.

Returning to Solomon Rothschild, we can say that he and his descendants represented the interests of the clan in Austria, where a bank was founded that financed the first Austrian railway and various capital-intensive enterprises of the government. For his success in this matter, in 1843 Solomon Rothschild became the first Jew - an honorary citizen of Austria.

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He died July 28, 1836. From his marriage to Anna Cohen, he had six children: Charlotte, Lionel, Anthony, Nathaniel, Anna and Louise.

In 1847 Nathan Rothschild's son Lionel, married to the daughter of his uncle Charles Rothschild, was elected to the House of Commons, and in 1885 his grandson Nathaniel became a member of the House of Lords.

Nathaniel Charles Rothschild
Karl (Kalman) Rothschild died on March 10, 1855 in Naples. He was married to Adelheid Hertz and had five children from that marriage: Charlotte, Mayer Karl, Adolf Karl, Wilhelm Karl and Amschel Alexander Karl.

Karl Rothschild had a reputation for being the least gifted of the five brothers. However, he also showed himself in Naples as a strong financier and very capable in developing extremely important business connections. He established close business relations with the Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, after which his bank became dominant in Naples.

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For a quarter of a century, James became the second richest man in France, only the king's fortune was a little more.

On July 11, 1824, James Rothschild married his niece, Betty Rothschild, and they had five children: Charlotte, Mayer Alphonse, Gustav Samuel, Salomon James, and Edmund Benjamin.

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$1 billion was a fabulous figure for those times. Not a single major project at that time could do without the Rothschilds: their money was used to explore diamond mines in South Africa, buy up land for the construction of the Suez Canal, buy oil produced in Russia, finance construction railways and metallurgical enterprises ... Their bank became the largest in Europe, and their family became the richest in the world.

The Rothschilds were the first to create what are now called financial-industrial groups. They actively penetrated the industry of the most promising country from an economic point of view at that time - the United States. At the same time, they always hated to act openly, preferring to secretly take control of company after company, and those for the general public continued to be associated with completely different people. For example, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Rothschilds established real control over the financial empire of the Morgans and the steel conglomerate of the Carnegie clan.

Members of the Rothschild clan still play an important role in world business. Despite two world wars, the confiscation of many properties and high inheritance taxes, the Rothschild empire did not die and is still considered one of the largest in the financial world. It is almost impossible to give an exact figure due to the large number of assets. But some experts believe the Rothschild family's total net worth is currently at least $350 billion. Others are sure that the Rothschilds have about $1 trillion in real estate and the banking sector alone.

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In the hands of Nathaniel Charles Rothschild now there are hundreds of mines and vineyards, large tracts of land, almost all the largest news agencies in the world (Reuters, BBC, etc.), a huge number of small and medium-sized banks, as well as the world's largest bank – NM Rothdchild & Sons. Here we can talk not about “some” billions, but about trillions of dollars. And these are not virtual riches and not lines in Internet search engines. This is real wealth, with which you can have a significant impact on everything, including world politics.

Especially big money. Not without reason in the code, bequeathed by Rothschild Sr. to his children, it was clearly stated: “In any case, do not describe the property of the family, do not disclose the size of the fortune. Even in court or in a will." And it was also said that modesty leads to wealth. To paraphrase the founder of the Rothschild clan, one can say: give me the right to control money - and I will not care at all who makes up some kind of ratings ...

Sergei Nechaev

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812)

The largest German city of Frankfurt am Main is today considered the most financial city in Germany, it houses the main offices of the country's largest banks. Some say that this tradition was started by Mayer Amschel Rothschild, one of the first famous bankers in Frankfurt, who lived in the Jewish ghetto and created his own banking house. He was financial assistant to the local landgrave, and during the French revolutions he became the financial commissioner of the British government. The Rothschild financial empire he created has survived to our time.

Life in the Jewish ghetto was not sweet. Houses stood close to each other, inhabited from top to bottom. The Jews were forced to cross to the other side of the street to give way to the Germans. The locals had no names, only surnames. The number of families living in the ghetto should not exceed 500, the number of marriages per year - no more than 12. The municipal authorities were afraid of the growth in the number of alien people and their assimilation with the Germans.

On Jewish Street, No. 152, there was a narrow 4-storey house in which the Rothschild family lived. Their ancestors settled in Frankfurt back in the distant XIII century, but the Rothschilds lived no better than others. In house 152 they traded all sorts of things.

Mayer Amschel was left an orphan at the age of 12, his relatives took custody of him. They wanted to make a rabbi out of him, sent him to study at the synagogue in the city of Fürth. The boy did not like to learn the Talmud, with much greater zeal, he exchanged with his peers everything that came to hand, and collected coins. He noticed that money has power over people, poor or rich, everyone bowed before money. And he decided to save money. He refused the post of rabbi.

When Mayer returned to his home in Frankfurt, he set up the money-changing business on a grand scale, he spent all his time in the office, buying up antiques, ancient coins, issued loans, collected receipts. And he tried to earn a reputation as an honest money changer. But to become a real banker, one had to study, and Mayer went to his relatives Oppenheims in Hannover, who owned several money changers.

Mayer studied, mastered the basics of banking, established contacts. But he did not want to stay with relatives for a long time, he returned to Frankfurt. Gradually, he came into the confidence of the wealthy landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel, a collector of antiquities, and very quickly became his financial adviser. Mayer himself said that he learned to trade money. One of his rules was: "Do not let the money stale, but put it into circulation." Money should bring even more money.

The landgrave's father left his son Wilhelm a good inheritance. He earned it by trading - at one time he sold young German recruits to England, who were then sent to America to participate in the Civil War on the side of the British. It is difficult to say how many Germans were taken to America, but the landgrave turned out to have tens of millions of thalers in cash.

When French troops began to advance on Germany in early 1804, the Landgrave fled and instructed Rothschild to save his fortune. He not only saved, but also multiplied, not forgetting himself.

With this capital, the growth of the Rothschild banking house began. First Mayer, and then his five sons, began to issue loans not only to individuals and organizations, but also to governments. The monarchs of different countries stood in line to take money from the Rothschilds. They were taken for military purposes, for the purchase of food. The Rothschilds with particular pleasure gave out money at good interest to the states to fight Napoleon.

Old Mayer died in Frankfurt, which he rarely left. His work was continued: Amschel Rothschild - in Frankfurt, Solomon - in Vienna, Nathan - in London, Karl - in Naples, James - in Paris. The Rothschilds were not just financiers, they were already politicians. The French writer Honore de Balzac used the history of their financial house for his novel The Banking House of Nucingen, and he wrote off his main character from the head of the Rothschild family.

Mayer Rothschild is a man who, thanks to the ability to make useful connections and calculate two moves ahead, managed to turn from a poor boy into the founder of a large dynasty of bankers.

early years

The real name of the future founder of a large dynasty of bankers is Bauer. The family lived in the Jewish ghetto in the town of Frankfurt am Main, and its head worked as a money changer in a small office under a red sign. It was this piece of wood that later became the hallmark of the whole family. In German, the "red sign" sounds like "Rot Schild".

Twelve-year-old Mayer is sent to Hanover to study banking under a certain Oppenheimer. Young Bauer approached his studies responsibly: after a little time he easily distinguishes fakes from real coins, he knows the financial business by heart, and also which exchange rate is profitable today, and when it is better to wait with the exchange of money.

This knowledge was very useful to him at the age of 16. After the death of both parents, in 1760, he returned to Frankfurt to take care of his father's business: selling and changing medals and coins. Therefore, very quickly begins to rotate in the circle of lovers of antiques and collectors.

Antique shops and the first bank

Not missing this opportunity, Mayer opened a shop where he sold antique gizmos, and also changed the money of various German principalities, because then almost everyone had their own currency.

It was at this time that he founded his first bank. Rothschild bank.

In addition to the fact that Meyer knows how to buy and sell very profitably, he has an equally important quality - establishing relationships with the right people. The antique shop more than contributed to this. His old client, lover valuable coins General von Estorff once introduced Rothschild to Landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Kassel. When an aristocrat is forced to flee to Prague due to political differences, Rothschild takes care of his capital. And not only keeps it intact, but also manages to increase multimillion-dollar capital.

Did not let the future banker and business sense. When he realized that it was both dangerous and expensive to transport currency, he found another way out of the situation: he simply bought cotton and wool in England at lower prices, and then sold them in other European countries at a higher price. So it was possible not to be afraid of the attacks of robbers, and at the same time earn many times more.

Prince and banker

And here again there is Wilhelm IX. Beginning in 1764, Rothschild supplied coins and gold to his house. And five years later, the prince invites Mayer to become his personal supplier and banker. The duties of the court supplier - the hoff factor - were to fully supply the court with everything necessary, in addition, he had to monitor the treasury and do everything possible so that the money multiplies. If the factor successfully coped with everything, he was respected at court, and if not, then almost his entire family could be judged.

Despite the risks, Rothschild agreed to such a position. And he did not lose, because Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Kassel was one of the richest German princes at that time: he was engaged in the trade in soldiers, so he never denied himself anything.

But even when his affairs were not too good, Rothschild still took care of his capital. When Wilhelm fled to escape Napoleon in 1806, Rothschild still continued to knock money out of his debtors and turned his trick again: he managed to increase the capital of the fugitive even in the conditions of war.

But he also had moments of occasional advantage: he once withdrew Wilhelm's money from an English bank and used it to pay for goods. Since he paid in cash, they gave him a big discount. Thus, Rothschild did not have to carry money to England, and then return it to Frankfurt. Instead, Mayer brought his goods, sold them at a great price, then returned the money lent by the count, and even got a benefit. The fact that the British had a pound as currency also played a role, and Wilhelm needed to return the thalers - thus Rothschild made money on the difference in exchange rates.

Families and children

In 1771 Mayer married the daughter of a local pawnbroker Gutle Schnapper. She was 10 years younger than him. In this marriage, they had ten children: five boys and five girls: Jeanette (1771), Amschel (1773), Solomon (1774), Nathan (1777), Isabella (1781), Babette (1784), Karl (Kalman) ( 1788), Julie (1790), Henrietta (1791) and James (1792).

Rothschild called five sons five fingers of one hand - they successfully continued the work of his whole life.

On September 27, 1810, he founded Mayer Amschel Rothschild & Sons. Having almost all the capital of Wilhelm Rothschild on hand, he used it to lend money to different states. The entire increase remained with the family of the banker Rothschild, and the returned funds were then regularly given to the heirs of the count.

Death and continuation of the dynasty

Mayer Rothschild died at the age of 68 in his hometown of Frankfurt. By the end of his life, the family's capital was twice as large as the assets of a French bank.

Mayer's four sons went to different countries, where each founded his own bank: in London, Paris, Vienna and Naples. In Frankfurt, the eldest son Amschel remained in charge.

Despite the fact that the five brothers lived at a considerable distance from each other, they always kept in touch. And not only friendly. They suggested when which exchange rate would be more profitable, and sometimes they even spread false rumors in their own country in order to turn out a profitable business later.

• As a child, Mayer dreamed of becoming a rabbi.
• Of the 58 marriages of the dynasty, exactly half were concluded between cousins ​​and second cousins ​​\u200b\u200band sisters - in order to preserve capital within one family. So taught Mayer Rothschild.
• Rothschild bequeathed to no one and under no circumstances to tell about the amount of money owned by the family. No court, no police. Envy is what he feared the most.
• The coat of arms of the Rothschild family depicts five arrows tied with a ribbon - a symbol of the five sons of the founder of the dynasty. Their motto was the words "Concordia, Integritas, Industria" (Consent, Unity, Diligence).
• Actor Jack Huston is one of the descendants of the founder of the banking dynasty.

Mayer Amschel (Anschel) Rothschild(German Mayer Amschel (Anschel) Rothschild; February 23 (1744-02-23 ) , Frankfurt am Main - September 19, ibid.) - founder of a Jewish dynasty of prominent entrepreneurs (see Rothschilds), founder of a bank in Frankfurt am Main, Freemason [ ] .

The business was continued by his five sons: Amschel Mayer, Solomon Mayer, Nathan Mayer, Kalman Mayer, James Mayer. The brothers controlled 5 banks in largest cities Europe (Paris, London, Vienna, Naples, Frankfurt am Main).

Biography

The history of the Rothschilds can be traced back to 1577 to Itzhak Elhanan Rothschild, whose surname is borrowed from German (German zum rothen Schild - “with a red shield”) and came from a house in which the family lived for many generations (at that time the houses had no numbers and they were distinguished by color plates). Subsequently, the heirs adopted the name Rothschild as a family name when in 1664 they moved to another house, which until the beginning of the 19th century served not only as housing for more than 30 relatives, but also as a place of business.

Mayer Amschel was born on 23 February 1744 to a family of 8 children in the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt am Main. His father Amschel Moses Rothschild (died 1755) was engaged in trading in various goods and exchanging coins, was the personal supplier of coins for the Prince of Hesse.

When he was three years old, Mayer began learning to read and write Hebrew. He was destined for a brilliant career as a rabbi, and so in 1755 his father sent him to a rabbinical school in Fürth, a suburb of Nuremberg. Jews were allowed to settle there. Mayer was quite easy on mathematics, which was a good help in the world of finance.

When Mayer was twelve years old, he was sent to Hanover to study at Oppenheimer's Bank. There he comprehended the secrets of financial affairs, got acquainted with the coins of the German principalities, learned to identify fakes and favorable exchange rates.

After the death of his parents in 1760, Mayer returned to Frankfurt and continued his father's business: he engaged in the exchange and sale of coins and medals. Very soon he became known among lovers of antiquity. Having saved up money, Mayer opened his own antique shop, in which it was also possible to change the money of some German principalities for others. This is how the first Rothschild bank arose.

From 1764 Mayer Rothschild began supplying coins and gold to the princely house of Hesse-Kassel. And five years later, the head of the house, Wilhelm IX, appointed him as a personal banker and court supplier - hoff factor. The duties of a court factor, which Mayer was, were to increase the prince's treasury, cover his expenses for the army, luxury goods, supply the yard, stables, kitchen and cellars. In case of success, the factor was expected to be rewarded in the form of a part of the prince's income and respect at court, in case of failure - court, ruin and even execution.

Landgrave Wilhelm IX was one of the richest and most noble German princes, he traded in hired soldiers and lived in grand style. In 1785, he profitably sold 17,000 soldiers to the English King George III for the war against the American colonists. When in 1806 Wilhelm (who became elector in 1803 under the name of Wilhelm I) went into hiding to escape Napoleon, Rothschild continued to collect money from his debtors, and was even able to increase the amount received.

Once Rothschild withdrew money from the Landgrave's compensation account in a British bank and paid for the goods with them. And since I paid in cash, I got a big discount. Mayer managed to avoid two operations at once: the transfer of money to England and the oncoming transfer of money to Frankfurt. Instead of money, Rothschild brought goods, sold them at a high price, repaid the debt to the landgrave, and in the end turned out to be a big winner. And since William IX received thalers, and the British paid in pounds, the banker also earned on the difference in exchange rates.

At 27, Mayer married 17-year-old Gutle Schnapper, the daughter of a local pawnbroker. The Rothschilds had 5 sons and 5 daughters: Jeanette (1771), Amschel (1773), Solomon (1774), Nathan (1777), Isabella (1781), Babette (1784), Karl (Kalman) (1788), Julie (1790) ), Henrietta (1791) and James (1792).

Growing up, the children contributed to the common cause. Mayer needed their help, and besides, who could he trust more than his own children? The girls were engaged in documents, the boys at first took the goods and delivered the goods. Then the older children got married, their spouses were also included in the family business, but not as partners, but only as workers and employees. Sons-in-law did the dirty work, and daughters-in-law brought a substantial dowry.

Rothschild's five sons continued his work. They were called "Five fingers of one hand." On September 27, 1810 Mayer Amschel founded the company Mayer Amschel Rothschild & Sons. Putting into circulation the cash funds of the elector, which were at his disposal, Rothschild-father began to arrange state loans in previously unprecedented sizes. The increase remained in the hands of the family of bankers, and the wealth itself was returned by the heirs of Rothschild to the successors of the landgrave.

After the death of Rothschild, his total capital was twice the assets of the French Bank. His sons dispersed throughout Europe and subsequently created a whole network of banks. Amschel, the eldest son, led all the affairs of the ancestral home in Frankfurt. Nathan founded his firm in London, James - in Paris, Solomon settled in Vienna, Karl - in Naples. Formally, they were independent of each other, but they had a common communication system - a courier service, which made it possible to receive news about the most important political events, about any stock market shocks before anyone else. The ability of the Rothschilds to quickly gather information, and if necessary, spread disinformation, played a big role in the fact that the history of the house was closely intertwined with the history of Europe.

Death and testament

Mayer Amschel died in 1812. Before his death, he drew up a partnership agreement and a will, in which he outlined the principles for the further management of the family business. The descendants of Amschel had a code of internal laws, which they could be guided by for the benefit of the dynasty and for themselves personally. In the will, Mayer Amschel quite sharply separated his direct male descendants from other relatives, from female descendants, people connected with the Rothschilds by marriage, as well as their offspring. The will clearly stated that there was no place for sons-in-law in the company. Amschel said: “My daughters, sons-in-law and their heirs have nothing to do with the existing company M. A. Rothschild und Söhne, and also have no right to study the affairs of the aforementioned company, its account books, papers, registers, etc. I will never forgive my children if they go against my parental will and prevent my sons from quietly doing business.

Emblem of the Rothschild dynasty

The emblem of the Rothschild dynasty depicts five arrows connected by a hand clenched into a fist, which symbolizes the union of the five sons of the founder of the clan, Mayer Amschel. Their motto was the words: lat. Concordia, Integritas, Industry("Consent, impeccability, diligence").

see also

• 1. BNF ID: Open Data Platform - 2011.
  2. Lundy D.R. The Peerage - 717826 copies.
  3. Rothschild, family (Russian), Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia ORT(April 1, 2016). Retrieved November 30, 2018.

Heine, paraphrasing the well-known formula of Islam, said: "Money is the God of our time, and Rothschild is his prophet." The Rothschild banking house in the 19th century was considered one of the most powerful European empires, along with Britain, Russia, France, Prussia and Austria-Hungary. The Rothschilds entered the 21st century with a fortune exceeding $ 15 billion. Of course, this is much less than the fortunes that occupy the first lines of the ranking of the world's billionaires, especially if you divide it into all family members, but the fact of the matter is that the Rothschild fortune is - this is the state of the family.

The Rothschilds are a clan that has maintained the purity of blood for centuries. Moreover, in order to prevent dissipation of capital and leakage of information, the Rothschilds practice intra-family marriages. At the same time, their devotion to the family is fantastically developed, and no matter of the division of the inheritance between the Rothschilds, or a “brotherly scandal” (like the one that the famous Indian billionaires Ambani brothers recently became famous for) has ever surfaced. The sons of the founder of the dynasty even divided the profits equally, and each financial transaction required the approval of the whole family - as interested parties.

The Rothschilds were among the first to understand the value of information and trade secrets. Amschel Rothschild (1773-1855) wrote in his will: "categorically ... I forbid the conduct of a judicial or public inventory of my inheritance, any judicial intervention and any disclosure of the extent of my fortune." It is the Rothschilds who authored the famous phrase "Who owns the information, he owns the world."

This thesis was perfectly illustrated by Nathan Rothschild (1777-1855), when he managed to earn huge money (40 million pounds sterling) and in fact buy up all of England - only by having information about the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo. No, Nathan didn't mislead anyone. We can say that he accomplished a feat: he managed to get to London from Brussels faster than the official courier. Nathan Rothschild made an official report to the government, and then went about the business of his own bank. That is, he started playing on the stock exchange. When Nathan Rothschild began to sell securities, everyone agreed that Napoleon had won the battle of Waterloo. Immediately began the collapse of the British, Austrian and Prussian shares. Rothschild agents carefully bought up everything that the exchange offered, and it offered a lot that day. The fact that the information, which stock players considered undoubted, did not correspond to reality, was learned only a day later - but it was already too late. But it was not possible to accuse Nathan Rothschild of foul play: he did not tell anyone who won the historic battle. He simply remained silent, confirming once again the thesis that information is the key to mastering the world.

The five sons of Mayer Rothschild opened five banks in different parts of Europe: Amschel (1773-1855) - in Frankfurt (Germany), Solomon (1774-1855) - in Vienna (Austria), Nathan (1777-1855) - in London (Great Britain), Karl (1788-1855) - in Naples (Italy), James (1792-1868) - in Paris (France). Thus, the Rothschilds practically took control of all European governments.

True, this control did not last long, and on this moment only the French and English banking houses of the Rothschilds remained. Until now, they have worked independently, independently of each other, but not so long ago it was announced that a single holding company would soon be created, which would unite the French and English branches of the Rothschilds, not only at the management level, but also at the shareholder level. Such a union is associated with the death of Baron Guy de Rothschild, who was the head of the French branch of the family.

The Rothschilds are not only banking houses, they are also mining companies in South Africa (gold, diamonds, uranium, etc.), this is De Beers Consolidated Mines, which needs no introduction, this is the oil industry and non-ferrous metallurgy. Everything the Rothschild hands touch turns to gold. And yet, representatives of this family in the 21st century follow the precepts of the founder of the dynasty, who insisted on perseverance in increasing wealth, constantly looking for new ways to make money, diligence in faith (none of the Rothschilds left the faith of their fathers, even for the sake of financial benefits). ), indispensable possession of the art of management and modesty.

“Modesty leads to wealth,” said Amschel Rothschild, inspiring his descendants with the ideals of Mayer Rothschild, and each of the Rothschilds is moderate, modest and diligently avoids scandals.

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