The Rothschilds - the history of the largest financial magnates (Heinrich Schnee). Rothschilds: global underground empire of parasites Emblem of the Rothschild dynasty

1585

1744

IN 1755

1764 1769

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Meyer Amschel Rothschild is the founder of the most successful, powerful and wealthy dynasty. The Rothschild banking house went down in history not only as the most famous, but also as the largest private banking house the world has ever known. The Rothschild surname has long become a household name, symbolizing untold wealth; it is not for nothing that they say: “Rich as Rothschild!”

The powerful Rothschilds helped maintain and overthrow thrones, prevented wars if it threatened their loans, they removed ministers and appointed new ones. With the help of money they ruled parliaments and newspapers, eliminated competing banks, and opened new banks.

But the Rothschilds gained fame not only as major financiers. They built hospitals, schools, and houses with low rents. Many of them became owners of brilliant collections of paintings and other artistic treasures and became famous as fine connoisseurs of art. Museums in France preserve masterpieces donated by the Rothschilds to the state. Many artists and poets would have died of hunger in their time if it were not for the help and tutelage of the Rothschilds.

In the 16th century, the Rothschild ancestors moved to Frankfurt am Main. Their name goes back to 1585 year and comes from the “house with a red sign” in which the family lived.

The head of the financial dynasty - Meyer Amschel Rothschild - was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1744 year. According to the will of his parents, he was to become a rabbi. For this, Meyer was sent to the appropriate educational institution.

IN 1755 year, following family tradition, he opened his own business related to the trade in antiques and medals. While still very young, Meyer began to save money and put it into circulation - he gave loans at interest.

There were many currencies in circulation in Germany at that time. Meyer opened something like an exchange office, and invested the commission proceeds in the numismatic trade. Then he published the catalogs and presented them to Prince Wilhelm, Elector of Hesse-Kassel, a passionate collector. He sold him a batch of medals and coins. So in 1764 year Meyer entered the service of the princely house of Hesse, and in 1769 year he was appointed court factor (commission agent). A sign appeared on the family home: “M.A. Rothschild is a supplier to the court of His Highness Prince William."

But not everything was so good: at the age of twenty, Meyer lost his parents and was forced to take care of four brothers.

August 29 1770 Meyer Amschel married the daughter of a businessman from an old Jewish family, Gutle Schnaper. This happy marriage produced 10 children: five sons, later known as the “five Frankfurters” or “five fingers of one hand,” and five daughters.

The successful experience of Prince Wilhelm encouraged Meyer to expand the business. He compiled catalogs and transported coins to order from one principality to another. After some time, he equipped a money changer’s shop, where passing merchants could exchange the money of some German principalities for the currency of others. This is how the first Rothschild bank arose.

As a court factor, Rothschild had the opportunity to expand the scope of his activities by carrying out personal assignments for the Landgrave. He attracted Hessian officials to his side, cooperating with them in financial matters. This subsequently gave him an advantage over other factors.

IN 1800 In the year Meyer and his sons, Amschel and Solomon, received patents as court factors. At this time, the head of the dynasty was already one of the ten wealthiest Jews.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild died on September 19 1812 at the age of 68, leaving behind five sons and a capital of 200 million francs in gold, which was almost twice the capital of the French National Bank.

The Rothschilds are the most famous among European banking dynasties, which for more than 200 years have had a significant influence on the economy and political life of not only the old world. The first major enterprise was a bank in Frankfurt. Gradually, his interests include mining, energy, real estate and winemaking. The situation of the family is of enduring interest and surprise to ordinary people: the size of the dynasty’s fortune is not reliably known, conspiracy theories are associated with the family, they are credited with participating in the world government and starting wars in their own interests. The foundations for the success and prosperity of the Rothschilds were laid by the head of the dynasty, Mayer Rothschild: his orders and instructions are strictly observed by his descendants.

Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt

The family's success story begins in the impoverished, overcrowded Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt in the 18th century. The residence of Jews in the cities of Christian Europe was officially permitted in specially designated isolated quarters. Places where Jewish communities settled began to be called “ghettos,” after the name of the Jewish quarter in Venice, located near a cannon-making workshop, which in Italian sounds like “ghetta.”

The authorities resisted the expansion of the ghetto, despite the growing population and the depletion of housing resources. The overpopulation of Jewish areas led to a decrease in people's life expectancy and an increase in fires. Various restrictions were also established for Jews. The ghetto was closed at night, on Sundays and on all Christian holidays. Jews could not have property, they were obliged to wear yellow bands on their clothes and give way to an approaching Christian, who, without consequences for himself, could offend a Jew for no reason. Special rather onerous taxes were established for them.

Professional communities did not allow Jews into their membership and thereby narrowed the choice of areas of work for representatives of this nation. Economic restrictions encouraged Jews to engage in conversion and credit transactions: exchanging money and providing funds on collateral or on growth terms. The profession of moneylender has become traditional for representatives of Jewish communities due to the ban on such activities for Christians for religious reasons.

The exchange of money in Germany in the 18th century was an urgent necessity, which was determined by the political structure of the country. The country was a conglomerate of a large number of sovereign principalities, each of which issued its own money. Trade was accompanied by the need to exchange money, which was the source of income for Mayer Rothschild’s father.

Mayer Amschel's childhood

Amschel Moses Bauer was the owner of a small money changer's office. The sign above the entrance, which was red (“rot schild” - German, red sign), became the reason for the nickname of family members, which later turned into a famous surname. Mayer Amschel was born in 1744. The boy stood out among his peers for his abilities. The parents believed that their son should become a rabbi, so he was sent to receive a proper education at a Jewish theological school in the suburbs of Nuremberg. The boy studied well, but did not show much enthusiasm or diligence. The death of his parents made adjustments to the life of Mayer, who was forced to leave school due to the inability to pay tuition fees. Through the patronage of his relatives, he was lucky enough to become an apprentice at Oppenheimer's Jewish enterprise in Hanover and begin to study banking. This city was distinguished by its relative tolerance towards representatives of the Jews. Everything was going well for the young man at work, and apparently good life prospects awaited him in Hanover, but Mayer made a rather strange decision and returned to his hometown in 1764.

Success story begins

Mayer Amschel followed his father's profession, but in addition, he began to trade in old coins, medals, antiques and rare things that he searched for on his own or bought at bargain prices.

Historians note in his biography his amazing mathematical abilities and ability not to miss the opportunity that presented itself. It is believed that Mayer sought to provide his services exclusively to people with position in society. Mayer accompanied his numismatic collections with catalogs and entertaining historical lectures, which was able to interest the “right” people, who soon began to purchase his goods.

Mayer managed to meet Prince Wilhelm IX, Elector of Hesse-Kassel - a representative of the royal court of Austria-Hungary. The aristocrat was famous for his passion for collecting coins, which the enterprising young man took advantage of by giving him a collection of antique coins. Having found a buyer in the prince, Mayer received permission to represent himself as the prince's sales agent. The increase in status allowed him to obtain the blessing of his future wife's father, who had until that moment refused him.

Wilhelm was distinguished not only by his noble origin, but also by his impressive material well-being. For many German princes of that time, the usual source of income was the provision of their subjects as soldiers to other states. William's army allowed him to make a good fortune: his soldiers fought as mercenaries on the side of Britain and fought bravely in colonial America. In the history of the Rothschilds, the fact of a young man’s rapprochement with an unusual aristocrat, distinguished by his extraordinary business acumen, is presented as one of the key moments that contributed to the formation of the dynasty.

Mayer had an excellent analytical mind and abilities for systematic multidimensional thinking. Buying textiles in England for resale, he invited William to use English bills of exchange, which he received as payment for mercenaries, to pay for his purchases, provided that the prince would give him these bills at a discount. The deal was completed only two years later in 1789, but it turned out to be the family's first truly profitable operation.

Having become a court factor of William IX (the so-called people who carried out financial transactions), Mayer Rothschild established a rule that is still successfully observed by his family: to do business only with noble people and to have, if possible, as many sons as possible, who could later lead the family business. In fact, he dreamed of creating an influential and wealthy dynasty.

The father is rich and strong with sons

There are ten surviving children in the family of Mayer Amschel and his wife Gutele. Biographers describe the head of the family as an attentive father who passed on his craft to his children and spent a lot of time with them. Unlike his brothers, Mayer was gentle and courteous, had an undeniable talent for negotiation, knew how to remain cool in difficult situations, so he was able to channel not only his business, but also the indomitable energy of his sons, develop their talents and start a family , whose descendants are still known today. Perhaps the source of success was Mayer Rothschild’s rule: everyone has their own talents, but success is common!

Five sons, having grown up, joined their father and helped conduct business with clients. From childhood, they showed the ability to be successful traders and were not inferior to their father in this. However, unlike the head of the family, their approach to doing business was more rigid and straightforward. Mayer tried to soften him by teaching his heirs the art of negotiations - a skill he inherited from nature. The girls participated in the family business within the home: they did written work and kept accounting books.

Mayer's sons have taken their collaboration with Prince William to a new level. Having agreed with the bankers and the aristocrat's treasurer, they became intermediaries in all his financial transactions. Gradually, Mayer Rothschild's money changer turned into a real bank. The father demanded that the children follow his business philosophy, which was characterized by several principles:

always pay your bills on time;
never borrow;
to be honest and open in conducting business so that no litigation is ever associated with the name of the Rothschilds.

The Austrian emperor granted the brothers a baronial title and, according to this, the surname acquired a coat of arms. It is characteristic that the coat of arms has five arrows tied together (in other versions - held with a clenched hand), and the inscription “Consent. Unity. Action".

By 1796 Mayer Rothschild was the richest Jew in Frankfurt. His sons enthusiastically helped their father increase his business activity. The eldest brother, Amschel, ran the growing business from Frankfurt. In 1804, Nathan first moved to Manchester and established his own textile supplies to the continent, and after a successful marriage, with the help of his father-in-law, he created his own bank in London. James settled in Paris in 1811, where he developed the French branch of a banking house. Solomon and Karl opened offices in Vienna and Naples, respectively. By the early 20s, the Rothschild family business covered all of Europe.

Promoting well-being

Mayer's children inherited from their father an amazing insight in discovering sources of benefit that are not obvious to others. During the war unleashed on the continent by Napoleon, economic sanctions were imposed on England. The French idea was to establish an economic blockade, preventing the movement of goods and money from England to Europe. The Rothschilds, with family members located on both sides of the English Channel, saw a unique opportunity for profit and organized large-scale smuggling of such important goods as wheat, cotton, colonial goods and weapons; carried out international payments.

The family set up a delivery service using small, fast ships at sea and a group of horsemen on the continent. The Rothschild couriers, in addition to transporting goods and gold, delivered the latest news, so their owners were the first to learn about important events in the economic and political sphere.

The Rothschild Bank acted as the organizer and executor of providing the British army with funds. Financial stability was one of the decisive factors that allowed Wellington to defeat the French troops at Waterloo. The bankers' courier with the news of the victory was one day ahead of the army courier. With reliable information, the Rothschilds provoked a panic on the stock exchange by pretending that their sudden sales were due to the defeat of the British, and then acquired significant assets at reduced prices, without formally violating any regulations.

It is believed that the famous phrase “He who owns information rules the world” belongs to Nathan Rothschild.

After the Napoleonic wars, the ruling houses began to use the services of bankers, transferring their capital to them for safekeeping with the condition of paying interest on the invested funds. This fact has become important in the history of the formation of the modern capital market.

However, despite their wealth, due to their origin, the Rothschilds still could not count on being treated as equals by the ruling circles and the world. Recognition at the highest level was won by the third generation of Rothschilds. Nathan's son, Lionel Rothschild, was the first Jew to serve in the British Parliament and be elevated to the British peerage.

The dynasty continues

Mayer Amschel died in 1812 at the age of 70. The father entered into a partnership agreement with his sons, which indicated that the business could not be divided between them and had to remain integral. There was no place for women in business; only sons could inherit the business. Outsiders, not even sons-in-law, were not allowed to occupy management positions in companies. Family marriages are encouraged: since a dowry must be given for daughters, it would be better if it went to a brother or cousin.

The youngest of five brothers, James, married his own niece, Betty, Solomon's daughter. The custom of marrying a girl from the family quickly became a tradition. Of the 12 marriages of third generation men, 9 were with cousins. Subsequently, the proportion of such marriages decreased somewhat, but is about half among Mayer Amschel’s descendants in the male line.

Mayer Rothschild's descendants follow his philosophy. In the more than two hundred year history of the dynasty, there is only one example when a family member left the business, taking part of it. At the end of the 20th century, contenders for the role of the British part of the family business disagreed on the choice of the bank's strategy. As a result, Jacob Rothschild organized his own investment fund, the ideology of which may go beyond the philosophy of the founder of the dynasty, but it is as successful as all Rothschild enterprises: the fortune of Jacob’s family is estimated at about $3 billion.

A landmark event for the dynasty was the merger in 2003 of the family's British and French banking houses, the only surviving large family lending businesses in Europe. This fact would undoubtedly have been approved by the founder of the dynasty, Mayer Amschel.

The Rothschilds are the most powerful and wealthy financial dynasty in the world. The author of this book, Heinrich Schnee, studied in detail the activities of the Rothschilds, from their financing of German princely houses to their worldwide role in the twentieth century. He came to the conclusion that the Rothschilds helped maintain and overthrow thrones, they removed ministers and appointed new ones who pleased them. With the help of money they ruled parliaments and newspapers, and eliminated competing banks. Among the largest “business projects” of the dynasty are the financing of the wars against Napoleon, the acquisition of shares in the Suez Canal, the monopolization of the extraction of the most sought-after minerals, and the lending to political regimes beneficial to the Rothschilds in Europe before and after the Second World War. In connection with the “Rothschild case,” the reader will see such “sharks of capitalism” as Krupp, Benz-Daimler, Siemens and others.

A series: Secret power

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by liters company.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild - founder of the dynasty

The Free City of Frankfurt am Main has attracted Jews since the early Middle Ages due to its location in the center of bustling trade. Trade and financial transactions have been successful here over the last millennium. Before the French Revolution, Frankfurt had 35 thousand inhabitants, one tenth of them were Jews. Since 1462, they were allocated a special Jewish quarter.

Many centuries ago, in one of these cramped ghettos, only 12 meters wide, between the city wall and the moat, “sandwiched as if in a cage,” the ancestors of the House of Rothschild lived. This was the Khan family, which later formed one of the branches of the dynasty. They moved to Frankfurt in the 16th century. Their Frankfurt name comes from the "house with the red sign" in which the family lived. But it should be noted that the surname Rothschild is often found in Jewish communities. In 1585, Isaac Elhanan first received the nickname "at the red sign", while his father's grave only says Elhanan. Almost a hundred years later, the family moved to another house, “Hinterpfann,” but the Rothschild name remained. The Rothschild family, like other Israelis, derived their livelihood from trade, since before the 18th century there were no other financial banking operations. Their fortune was insignificant, their lifestyle was modest. From 1567 to 1580, Isaac Elhanan paid a tax on a fortune of 2 thousand 700 guilders, and his great-grandson Kalman, who died in 1707, in 1690 had a fortune of 6 thousand florins. In 1733–1735, Kalman's son had in his hands a bill of exchange from a famous Württemberg court factor for 38 thousand florins, which suggests the presence of large monetary transactions. But Amschel Moses, the father of our Mayer Amschel, had a fortune of only 1 thousand 375 florins. All these are very insignificant amounts when compared with the income and fortune of the major court factors in Berlin and Vienna, where almost all court financiers were millionaires.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, like most court factors, came from the lower strata of the Israelis, and at first he did not stand out much among his co-religionists. In constant pursuit of his cherished goal, he was able to lay the foundations for the subsequent greatness of his house, although his trading activities are significantly overestimated. Reflections of the glory of his sons also fell on the founder of the dynasty. Myer's father intended him to become a rabbi. But after several years of study in Fürth, the young Rothschild quickly realized that he was interested in a completely different matter, he was attracted to the practical activities of a merchant and money changer. He entered the Hanoverian bank of Oppenheimer and studied with that family, which in the age of absolutism attracted a large number of court financiers to its side. Rothschild especially liked the practical activities of the court factor. His career began with the prince. The rise was greatly facilitated by the fact that the house of the Hessian Elector was considered one of the richest at that time.

In 1755, when Mayer Amschel was only twenty years old, he lost his father and mother and was forced to get on his own feet. Returning from Hanover, he opened his own business related to the trade in antiques and medals, like his father. His rapid progress towards becoming a famous banker is based on three significant points:

1. Rothschild had a close and trusting relationship with Crown Prince Wilhelm, who became William IX Landgrave and Hessian Elector Wilhelm I. His fortune was estimated at 20–60 million thalers, which was equal to the previous 60–180 million marks. This fortune laid the foundation for the development of the House of Rothschild.

2. The Rothschild family was associated with the Minister of Finance, Sovereign Karl Friedrich Buderus. He was born in 1759 in the family of a teacher in Büdingen, was the manager of the property of the Elector, the Hessian president of the tax chamber in Hanau, a privy councilor, elevated to the nobility under the name of Buderus von Karlshausen. He was a very capable financier; he immediately recognized Rothschild’s natural talent and contributed to his promotion at court. His equally influential brother was the founder of the Wetzlar metallurgical plant.

3. Rothschild had exceptional business qualities. In a stubborn struggle, he managed to eliminate any competition and achieve a monopoly position with the sovereign.

There is no other example in the history of the institution of German court factors when one single financier could have such unlimited influence over the prince. For comparison, one could name Jud Süß in Württemberg. But his activity lasted only a few years, while the Rothschilds were in the service of the princely court for more than a hundred years.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild began his career as a supplier of money and precious metals and became a court factor and then the main court agent. His sons Amschel Mayer and Solomon were appointed military treasurers. Mayer Amschel has been a supplier of money and precious metals since 1764. On September 21, 1769, he became court factor of the princely house of Hesse-Hanau, on September 24, 1803, he was appointed chief court agent in Kassel, and in 1802 his sons became treasurers. The Rothschilds' service at court began in 1764, and thus the activities of the financial dynasty exceeded two centuries.

In 1764, Crown Prince Wilhelm accepted independent rule of the County of Hanau, granted to him under an insurance deed of 1754 by his grandfather William VIII, who wanted to remove him from his Catholic-minded father Frederick. Crown Prince Wilhelm was a great lover, collector and connoisseur of coins and medals. And it was the coin trade that brought the then twenty-year-old Rothschild closer to his future princely patron. It took Rothschild decades until he achieved the full favor and favor of the Landgrave, since he was by nature a very suspicious person, fearing any deception in financial matters.

Rothschild was greatly helped by the fact that the prince had no prejudices against Jews. This can be seen from the fact that there were a significant number of Jews at the court in Kassel. In addition, the prince was a business man; he himself could become a banker. Of decisive importance for the banking house in Frankfurt was the fact that Rothschild finally managed to win the full trust of the prince, who entrusted him with all financial affairs. The existence of any bank depends entirely on how it manages to attract reputable clients and retain them. Rothschild provided his high-ranking client with various services: conducting all affairs in the free city of Frankfurt, attracting reliable and politically neutral banking connections in the leading financial market of London.

Crown Prince Wilhelm began collecting his coin collection in 1763, a year before his ceremonial entry into Hanau. In June 1765, Rothschild delivered the first coins to him, for which he received a reward of 38 guilders 80 kreuzers. Such were the humble beginnings of the greatest court banker of all time. One trade book from 1778 mentions him as a dealer in "antique medals and coins." There is no doubt that in his younger years Rothschild was a skillful, resourceful coin dealer, he was able to adapt to the taste of the prince and use his preferences in a businesslike manner. A few years later, he even dared to apply for some kind of court title, since any title gave the Jewish merchant respect in court society, which elevated him above his fellow believers.

“I had the special grace to make various supplies to Your Princely Serene Highness, which gave Your Serene Highness great pleasure. I will use all my strength and capabilities to continue to always be ready to provide various services to Your Princely Serene Highness. It would be a particularly strong encouragement for me if Your Princely Serene Highness would grant me the rank of Your Serene Highness's court factor.

I ask Your Princely Serene Highness with greater confidence also because I in no way want to bother you. Thanks to my rank and taking into account my trading business, as well as other circumstances, I could create my happiness here in the city of Frankfurt.”

The rank of court factor was a reward for the supply of coins and medals, which continued until 1806. After the death of the elder Mayer Amschel, the House of Rothschild sold the medals to the Elector twice more, in 1813 and 1814.

After his appointment as a court factor, Rothschild became even more active in financial affairs. Along with this, his five sons continued to trade in goods. Both Landgrave Frederick II's father and the Crown Prince had issued bills of exchange from London since 1776 to hire soldiers for England. When implementing such a bill, Rothschild still had to work in Hanau. In his subsequent statement to the Landgrave, he reports that “in Hanau, according to English letters, he received a higher price with a benefit for the master’s treasury.” Since 1798, Rothschild was the most preferred supplier to the princely treasury.

But winning a monopoly position was decisive for its advancement. In this he was helped by the military adviser Buderus, appointed in 1802 as director of the main military treasury. From that time on, the House of Rothschild quickly began to outstrip all competitors at the court of Kassel. First of all, Moses Joseph Büding, Michel Simon, Hertz Mayer, Solomon Abraham, Sussman Abraham were excluded.

In 1802, Rothschild opened a branch in Kassel to remain in close contact with the court and palace officials. By a resolution dated September 16, 1802, that is, quite late, he was exempted from paying taxes that were imposed on all Jewish merchants. It is surprising that the court Jew Rothschild had to wait a long time to obtain the benefits usually immediately granted to court financiers.

From 1801 to 1806, Rothschild issued five loans worth almost 5 million guilders.

His close relations with the court of Hesse strengthened, and he truly generously used the method used by all court factors of that era. To gain the favor of influential courtiers and government officials, they often resorted to gifts and bribes. Rothschild interested Hessian officials in inviting them to cooperate in financial matters. When Buderus was the chief tax collector for the land treasury of Hanau, Rothschild became his representative in Frankfurt. After his patron became an authoritative adviser to the Landgrave, Rothschild constantly received lucrative orders in Kassel.

Many court Jews had good relations with the court in Kassel. These are the Christian companies of Rüppel and Garnier, the Bethmann brothers, Preye and Jordis, Gebgard and Gauck in Frankfurt. In Kaosel there was a credit office of Wittgenstein, in Amsterdam the company of Van Noten and Goll and Co. But they had no permanent connections with Buderus. This was especially true of the influential house of Rüppel and Garnier, which managed to maintain its dominant position at the Kassel court only until 1803, precisely until Buderus became director of the military treasury. Officials already earned money on every transaction, since in all contracts they were entitled to one percent of the amount issued as a side income.

In 1805–1806, Rothschild was already significantly ahead of his competitors. When the prince, fleeing from Napoleon, was forced to flee and lived in exile for many years, the main court agent Rothschild managed to achieve a monopoly position in financing the Landgrave, of course, not without the support of his patron, who by this time had already become a secret military adviser under the name of Buderus von Karlshausen . He managed to surpass military adviser Lenier, friend of Ruppel and Garnier, and become the sole manager of affairs. By putting Rüppel and Garnier at a disadvantage, he tried to emphasize everywhere the selflessness of the House of Rothschild.

Rothschild was with Wilhelm in his emigration. During these years, he faithfully served his prince and especially distinguished himself by saving part of the Hessian fortune. Of course, such relations between the prince and the court factor also had a beneficial effect on the financial affairs of the latter, since even in emigration, William IX remained the largest capitalist among the German princes. In 1808, Rothschild had already become so advanced that all the Elector's surplus and incidental money was regularly sent to the bank of the House of Rothschild.

The collaboration between the Rothschilds and Buderus eventually resulted in the text of a document dated February 17, 1809, which read:

“The following agreement was concluded today between the secret military adviser Buderus von Karlshausen and the Trading House Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt.

I. Buderus transferred capital of 20 thousand guilders 24 florin feet to the Mayer Amschel Rothschild bank and promised, with the best intentions, to assist the Trading House in all trading matters and, if possible, to be useful to it.

II. In turn, the Trading House Mayer Amschel Rothschild promises to faithfully transfer to Buderus the profit from trading operations due on the invested capital of 20 thousand guilders, and allows him to check all books at any time to be more convincing in the correctness of the calculations.”

Thus, Buderus became an invisible participant in the House of Rothschild, so he was personally interested in Mayer Amschel Rothschild receiving a monopoly on the financial affairs of the Elector.

This agreement, the only one of its kind in the history of the German institution of court factors, corresponded to the interests of all its participants. The land prince's capital continued to increase, the inconspicuous court servant became a rich man, and the Frankfurt banker and merchant laid the foundation for the prosperity of his company. It would be wrong to evaluate this treaty from the point of view of modern morality. According to the ideas of that time, there was nothing offensive in the custom of giving and accepting gifts, and, as can be concluded from surviving memoirs, this was also the custom in the 19th century.

Meanwhile, Rothschild's sons grew up and could already help their father in all his affairs. On August 29, 1770, Mayer Amschel married the daughter of the merchant Wolf Solomon Schnapper, who lived near Rothschild’s house. The father-in-law's family belonged to the old Jewish families of Frankfurt. The bride's dowry amounted to 2 thousand 400 florins. Gutle Schnaper was a simple, modest and very economical woman. In a happy marriage, she gave her husband ten children: five sons and five daughters. Housekeeping and raising children took a lot of time. Throughout her life, she never left the Jewish quarter and until her death she remained to live in the same house where their family was destined to achieve its greatest prosperity.

The eldest son, Amschel Mayer, was born on June 12, 1773, and on November 16, 1793, he married Eva Hanau. In the documents, the names of father and son - Mayer Amschel and Amschel Mayer - were often confused. Only with closer and more detailed study was it possible to establish which of them was meant. Various spellings Mayer and Meyer are also often found. Amschel died on December 6, 1855.

Solomon Mayer, second son, born September 9, 1774. On November 26, 1800, he married Caroline Stern, and died the same year as his older brother, on July 27, 1855.

Nathan Mayer, the third son, who turned out to be the most talented of the Five Frankfurt Men, was born on September 16, 1777. He was married to Hanna Cohen from a family of Southern Jews. But already on July 28, 1836 he died.

The fourth son, Karl Mayer, was born on April 24, 1788, and married Adelheid Hertz on September 16, 1818. He died on March 10, 1855. Of the five Frankfurters, three brothers died in the same year.

Jacob, or James, the youngest, was born May 15, 1792, and on July 11, 1824, he married his niece Betty Rothschild. Death overtook him on November 15, 1868.

What is remarkable about the Rothschild sons and daughters is their tendency to marry into prominent families belonging to the upper Israeli stratum, whose names were well known. And this policy, characteristic of court factors, contributed to the advancement of the House of Rothschild. The daughters married into the families of Worms, Sichel, Bayfus, and Montefiore.

When Mayer Amschel began to grow old and ill, his sons often replaced him on business trips. The secrets of all business transactions remained within the family circle. Already in their youth, both eldest sons were agents of the Hessian military treasury. But a special distinction for father and sons was the appointment as an imperial factor at the court of Franz II for the merits that they, as suppliers of the army, had during the Napoleonic wars.

Court factors always sought to deal with supplies for the army. With some risk it was always a profitable enterprise, and most of the upper-class Jewish families in Germany laid the foundation of their fortunes precisely through supplies for the troops. The Napoleonic Wars, which lasted almost a quarter of a century, provided the Rothschilds with the opportunity to conduct various financial transactions at a high level and with great benefit for themselves.

Rothschild persistently sought the title of imperial court factor for himself and his sons in Vienna. On August 28, 1799, Mayer Amschel, as he signed then, and later Meyer, sent his request from Frankfurt to Vienna, pointing out in it the significant supplies that he carried out during the war against France, and his other merits. In response, Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his sons Amschel Mayer and Solomon Mayer received a patent for imperial court factors on March 7, March 8 and May 4. Each was issued a separate patent, which is surprising.

Following common practice, father and sons were to receive this title in one document.

Further, it should also be mentioned that the appointment of the Rothschilds as imperial court factors had to be notified in writing to Mainz, the Palatinate, Saxony, the archbishops of Würzburg and Bamberg, Darmstadt, the archbishop of Salzburg, the cities of Ravensburg, Schwäbisch Gmünd and Würzburg. In earlier years Habsburg had often given Jewish financiers the title of court factor, but nowhere was it noted that this appointment was so widely publicized as in the case of Rothschild and his sons.

When the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was formed by the grace of Napoleon, the Rothschilds served the new Prince Dahlberg as financiers. For his financial support of the Frankfurt contingent fighting on the side of France in Spain in 1810, Meyer Amschel was appointed advisor to the department.

Amschel Mayer Rothschild was also an actual court factor of Prince Karl Friedrich Ludwig Moritz von Isenburg-Büdingen from July 15, 1803, and on December 29 of the same year he became a court factor of the Master of the Order of St. John, on January 4, 1804 he was assigned to the Prince of Thurn and Taxis.

How strongly the Rothschilds aspired to become court Jews is evidenced by their position in the house of Prince Isenburg-Birstein, where the chief financier was Treasury Advisor Wolf Breidenbach. Rothschild worked with him. His son Amschel became a court factor in Isenburg-Birstein on August 29, 1803. As a reward, he had to be content with free delivery of firewood to his apartment in Frankfurt. On November 7, 1803, the prince ordered the newly appointed court factor to deliver firewood throughout the year. Rothschild provided the debt-ridden Birstein house with a loan of 50 thousand guilders. For a small country this was a very large amount. In this case, Breidenbach was a mediator. He paid the due interest to his Frankfurt colleague. And in subsequent years, Rothschild and sons worked at the Isenburg-Birstein court.

In 1815, as intermediaries with Lord Wellington and Lord Castleruff, the Rothschilds sought a subsidy for Birstein in Paris and London, in order to be closer to their money. But here the mediation of Breidenbach and Rothschild was unsuccessful. The very fact that the Rothschilds in 1803, having by that time a decent fortune, were content with the delivery of firewood as a reward, testifies primarily to the desire to show the whole world that they are in the princely service.

In December 1812, Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his sons became court bankers of the Grand Duke of Frankfurt.

From recently discovered documents of the state archive of Würzburg it follows that, according to an order dated December 16, 1813, the court bankers of the Grand Duke of Frankfurt were given as an annual remuneration to the Prince of Aschaffenburg: 72 centners of hay, 72 malters of oats, 10 cartloads of straw, 30 fathoms of firewood for their service 1 January 1813. This payment in kind was granted to Rothschild and his sons for life for their varied service to the benefit of the Grand Duchy. In 1813, they were also given food from the Aschaffenburg wine cellar. Later, when, in the course of political changes, the Principality of Aschafenburg was annexed to the crown of Bavaria, on November 29, 1814, the Rothschilds asked to retain this payment, indicating that they had selflessly served Frankfurt, and therefore Aschafenburg, by readily providing significant loans. “At a time when the treasury was completely empty and the state was experiencing great difficulties, no one dared to offer such a loan. No money has yet been received, so such payment in kind could be considered as compensation due to us for the losses we incurred by lending out substantial capital.”

From the documents attached below it follows that in 1813 the House of Rothschild offered Prince Dalberg a loan of 200 thousand florins to cover the costs of paying the army. The Grand Duke accepted this money and, as a sign of gratitude, ordered him to be given food for the horses in addition to the firewood. All the efforts of the Rothschilds to continue to receive payment in kind, but now from Bavaria as the heir to Aschaffenburg, were not crowned with success. The word “for life” does not appear in subsequent documents. Negotiations ended with an act of 1817. It was believed that at this time the Rothschilds already owned millions, and their petitions testify to the great importance they attached to government salaries.

The collaboration between Dahlberg and Rothschild primarily benefited the Frankfurt co-religionists. Like all court factors, Mayer Amschel tried to ease the fate of the Israelis with his influence. At the same time, the Rothschilds act together with Jacob Baruch, the son of the famous Cologne court Jew Simon Baruch and the father of Ludwig Berne. Mayer Amschel gained Dahlberg's favor by offering him a loan of 80 thousand guilders at 5% for a trip to Paris, where the Grand Duke of Frankfurt wanted to swear allegiance to the new king of Rome. Out of a feeling of hostility towards Napoleon, the commercial world of Frankfurt refused him this amount. “Thanks to this service, he achieved the full confidence of the Grand Duke and managed to take advantage of this favor so much that since then the Duke has not refused anything to the Rothschilds,” was written in one of the French messages.

The Rothschilds also got along well with Herr von Itzstein, the chief of police of the Grand Duchy. Itzstein was the patron of Mayer Amschel and all the Jews of Frankfurt. Although Dahlberg issued a new decree with some benefits for 500 families in Frankfurt, this unsatisfactory decision was rejected by the influential Privy Councilor Israel Jacobson, a passionate fighter for the emancipation of the Jews.

Mayer Amschel and his co-religionist Gumprecht managed to persuade Dahlberg to free Jews from the annual tax of 22 thousand florins and give them civil rights in order to equalize them with Christians. As payment for this, Dahlberg demanded a one-time payment of twenty times the amount. Mayer Amschel gave his co-religionists 100 thousand florins, almost a quarter of the amount. In addition, he obtained from Dahlberg that of these 440 thousand florins, 150 thousand were paid in cash, the rest - in 24 bonds au porteur (to bearer). The Senate, which was hostile towards the Jews, was dissatisfied with this deal. The aristocratic elite of the city believed that Dalberg personally received a “gift.” One of the Austrian police agents allegedly stated that the Grand Duke personally received 33 thousand Carolines for emancipation. Dahlberg was so pleased with the “skilfully completed business” that he presented the ministers who concluded the deal and their wives with 40 thousand francs each. Privy Councilor Itzstein received 10 thousand francs, the House of Rothschild also 10 thousand francs “for good assistance.” Dahlberg left 50 thousand “in the hands of the House of Rothschild, as payment in installments of what I owe him.”

On September 27, 1810, Mayer Amschel gave his enterprise a solid shape by founding the company Mayer Amschel Rothschild and Sons. The old man made his five sons co-owners of the company. The contract specified a fixed capital of 800 thousand florins, moreover, 370 thousand florins were to belong to the father, sons Amschel and Solomon 185 thousand each, Karl and the still minor James 30 thousand each. Nathan, who has been living in London for many years, did not was mentioned in the contract for business reasons. In fact, Mayer took over 12 fiftieths of the shares due to Nathan. In all matters, the decisive voice remained with Mayer, since he “with the help of the Almighty, thanks to his diligence acquired in his youth, insight in business, despite his advanced age, continues to work tirelessly and alone laid the foundations for the prosperity of the business, thereby ensuring happiness their children." Further in the agreement there was a definition according to which daughters and sons-in-law should not seek permission to view books and other documents. A conventional fine was provided for each partner if he decided to go to court. Disputes between brothers should be resolved within the family, maintaining the unity of the home. The agreement specifically noted the merits of Mayer Amschel and said that he laid the foundations for the prosperity of the house, but today it is well known from various sources how actively Buderus took part in this, and the eldest sons also helped in many ways.

Two years later, when Mayer Amschel was gripped by premonitions of death, he called the whole house and made a new will instead of the previous one. It said that he was selling his entire share in the company, his securities, his wine warehouse for 190 thousand florins to his sons, who in the future remained independent owners of the company. Daughters, their husbands and heirs were completely removed from the activities of the trading house, and not just from viewing books. Of the 190 thousand, Mayer left 70 to Frau Gutle, the rest of the money was received by his five daughters. At the end of his will, Mayer Amschel advised his children to live in harmony, love and friendship. Two days after drawing up the will, on September 19, 1812, Mayer Amschel passed away. It is unlikely that he suspected that he had laid the foundation for the “power of the world.”

There is no authentic information about the founder of the banking house, there is no portrait of him. At the age of 25, he was depicted as a tall, slender man of a distinctly Israeli type with a good-natured expression. According to the customs of that time, he wore a wig, but, being a Jew, he did not dare to powder it. Like his fathers, he had a small black pointed beard. Despite his wealth, he did not leave the ghetto; he remained an inconspicuous, patient court Jew, without much education. He didn't even speak German well. In this sense, the letter to the Elector dated April 21, 1805, the text of which is replete with a huge number of errors, is especially noteworthy.

Other court factors of that time were also not particularly literate. As a rule, correspondence between court financiers and government officials gave rise to double interpretation. In the age of absolutism, statements and other documents drafted by court factors were usually transcribed by trained personnel in the German language of the era.

It is difficult to determine the actual size of Rothschild's fortune on the day of his death. The Rothschilds never looked at the documents. It is known that Mayer Amschel himself kept double books, some could be presented to the authorities and tax departments, while others contained secret and profitable affairs.

When Mayer Amschel died, he was neither the richest Jew in Frankfurt nor a rival to the major court factors of the time. In 1800 he was tenth in the ranks of wealthy Jews. More wealth was then owned by Joel Halle and his son-in-law Marcus Baruch, Benedikt Aron Maja, Gumpert Isaac Elias and Michael Speyer, an imperial court factor since 1781. His fortune, acquired from army supplies, already then amounted to 420 thousand florins. Famous court financiers of Vienna, such as Simeon Wertheimer and Abraham Wetzlar Baron von Plankenstern, also left millions of fortunes. The court coiner of Frederick the Great, Ephraim, Itzig and Isaac each owned a million thalers. Secret financial adviser Israel Jacobson by this time had such land holdings that significantly exceeded Rothschild's fortune, not counting his cash capital. This also applies to the Würzburg court banker Jakob von Hirsch from Geroit. The then major court banker of Munich, Aron Elias Seligman, Baron von Eichthal, possessed even greater wealth. In his will of 1810, Mayer Amschel Rothschild determined the value of his company at 800 thousand florins. In the same year, the family of the court factor Oppenheim showed a net worth of one million French francs on the books. He himself was from Frankfurt, and from 1734 he worked first in Bonn and then in Cologne.

We will end the chapter about Mayer Amschel Rothschild with the characterization given to him by the publicist and writer Ludwig Börne. He also came from the Jewish quarter of Frankfurt and knew old Rothschild well.

“The elder Rothschild was a pious man, pure piety and good nature. He had a kind face with a pointed beard, he wore a cocked hat on his head, his clothes were more than modest, almost pathetic. So he always walked around Frankfurt, surrounded by a whole retinue of beggars. He gave them alms or good advice. If a crowd of beggars with satisfied and calm faces was encountered on the street, they already knew that the elder Rothschild had recently passed through here. Once, when I was still a little boy, my father and I were walking through the Jewish quarter one Friday evening and met Rothschild, who had just left the synagogue. I remember that after talking with my father, he said a few warm words to me, and then put his hand on my head, as if blessing me.”

Another essay says: “He, like many other Jews, believed that God especially rewards those good deeds that do not expect gratitude. Therefore, late in the evening he went out into the street, thrust a few coins into the hands of every poor-looking person he met, and quickly left.” His widow, Gutla, survived Mayer Amschel by many years. She witnessed her sons' brilliant progress, but never wanted to leave the Jewish quarter to move in with her children. “Here I saw how my sons became rich and strong. Now, at my age, I no longer need to strain myself to ensure the future of my children, but their interests may be infringed if, out of pride, I decide to leave my miserable hut.” She remained completely healthy until she was 90 years old. But when she finally had to see a doctor, she was not satisfied with his prescriptions and, in response to the doctor’s apologies, she objected that he, unfortunately, was not able to restore her lost youth: “Your medications will not make me younger, they make me even younger.” I’ll get old.” So she became even four years older. On May 7, 1849, at the age of 94, the mother of the “Five Frankfurt Men” closed her eyes forever.

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The given introductory fragment of the book The Rothschilds - the history of the largest financial tycoons (Heinrich Schnee) provided by our book partner -

Mayer Amschel once wrote to his son Nathan: “Without order in affairs, a millionaire can ruin himself and others, since the whole world is dishonest or not very honest. If people see that your business is a mess, they will do business with you with one intention - to deceive you." The main thing in this message, of course, is not the trivial idea that accounting should be exemplary. Mayer does not concentrate on the main thing in his letter: for many years he raised in his sons the conviction that humanity is bad.

Following this view, the dynasty created a financial empire, the boundaries of which no one knows today. Conspiracy theorists are sure that the Rothschilds own half the world.

And all the necessary stones for the foundation of today’s family power were laid then, more than 200 years ago. The Rothschild coat of arms depicts a hand clutching five arrows. The Arrows are the sons of the founder of the empire, Mayer Amschel: Amschel, Salomon, Nathan, Karl and James. Without their unanimous support for their father's decisions, it is unlikely that the Rothschilds would have been able to leave the ghetto.

House in the ghetto of Frankfurt am Main where the Rothschild family lived

Paving the way to trust

Mayer Amschel Rothschild was born into a poor family in the dirty ghetto of Frankfurt, sandwiched between the city wall and moat. The life of the Jews there was difficult: they were forbidden to engage in most professions, to leave the ghetto at night, on Sundays and on holidays, they paid numerous taxes... Mayer Amschel's brothers sold used things, and he began to buy old coins and medals. Collecting antiquities was in vogue among the German nobility, and the goods could become a pass to princely palaces for a modest dealer.

Moritz Oppenheim. "The Elector of Hesse-Kassel entrusts his treasures to Mayer Amschel Rothschild." Canvas, oil. 19th century

Wilhelm, Count of Hanau and heir to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, which bordered the imperial city of Frankfurt, was also interested in numismatics. The Hessian house was considered the richest in Europe. One of the collectors he knew introduced the young antique dealer Rothschild to the count. Wilhelm knew how to count money, so he immediately liked the seller’s competence and reasonable prices.

However, he was not going to stop at selling antiques. At the court of the German princes, financial transactions were traditionally handled by Jewish bankers. Mayer Amschel, who mastered banking in the ghetto, offered Wilhelm services as an intermediary. Since 1789, he received the first orders of this kind, insignificant in comparison with the huge sums that Wilhelm, who became Landgrave, entrusted to more experienced competitors. To get around them, patronage at court was required, and Rothschild surrounded Karl Friedrich Buderus with special attention.

Mayer Amschel's instinct did not let him down - Buderus, who began as tutor to Wilhelm's bastards, gradually became the Landgrave's closest confidant, and he transferred to him control of the most expensive - the Military Treasury (leasing troops to other states was the main source of income for the House of Hesse). The courtier willingly accepted gifts and lucrative offers from Rothschild in exchange for patronage. On the advice of Buderus, Wilhelm began to trust the Rothschilds with more and more financial transactions. In 1803, Mayer Amschel, to the amazement and indignation of his rivals, was appointed chief court agent.

Put any money into circulation

By the beginning of the 19th century, the Rothschilds were already considered a wealthy family in the ghetto. They could have remained one of the many small-town rich people, but they took advantage of an external threat in time: Emperor Napoleon I began to conquer Europe.

In 1806, Wilhelm fled the French occupation beyond the borders of his possessions. Mayer Amschel remained his agent, but on the continent it was dangerous and not always profitable. And Rothschild thought about England, where Nathan, his third son, had lived for several years. If only it would be possible to arrange for Rothschild Jr. to manage the Elector’s investments in London, out of reach of Napoleon...

Bank check of Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Nathan quickly retrained from a textile merchant and smuggler into a stockbroker and in 1807 invited William to purchase British government bonds for him for a large amount. The distrustful and cautious Elector refused. Rothschild Sr. continued to work for this through Buderus, who persuaded Wilhelm for two years and finally succeeded: Nathan was ordered to purchase bonds for 73.5% of the nominal value. He bought them nine times between 1810 and 1813, for a total of £664,850. But what benefit did the Rothschilds have from these transactions besides modest brokerage commissions? Historian Niall Ferguson explains: First, Nathan waited and bought the bonds for a smaller percentage of the face value than the agreed upon 73.5 and made money on the difference. Secondly, the Rothschilds purchased bonds in installments; payment from the noble buyer was not received immediately, and securities worth huge amounts remained at the disposal of the intermediary for a long time. Plus, while Nathan was stalling for time, he could take advantage of the deposit from the Elector for his own purposes. “The old man,” said the younger brother Karl, meaning Wilhelm, “made us a fortune.”

So a new tycoon suddenly appeared in the City, buying up government securities for fabulous sums, and the British government began to take a closer look at Nathan Rothschild...

Lithograph depicting the monarchs of Europe at the feet of Amschel Mayer Rothschild. 1848

Serve two or more gentlemen

While Nathan was enriching himself in London, the Frankfurt Rothschilds were thinking about how to profitably survive the French occupation. Thus, Karl von Dahlberg, ruler of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt, created in 1810 by Napoleon, received a loan from Mayer Amschel on favorable terms when a large sum was needed to travel to Paris for the baptism of the emperor’s son. “Thanks to this service,” the German historian Heinrich Schnee quotes one knowledgeable Frenchman, “he achieved the full confidence of the Grand Duke and was able to take advantage of this favor so much that since then the Duke has not refused anything to the Rothschilds.”

The family regularly worked for both camps: on the one hand, they enriched Wilhelm and collected money for the Austrian army, which was preparing to fight against Napoleon, and on the other, they lent money to the enemy, for example, to purchase horses for the army.

1 Amschel Mayer Rothschild
2 Salomon Rothschild
3 Karl Rothschild
4 James Rothschild
5 Nathan Rothschild

Aphorisms of worldly wisdom
Fragments from the correspondence of men of the Rothschild family

Nathan- to a business partner about Mayer Amschel: “My father’s chimney won’t even smoke without profit.”

Amschel: “It is better to deal with a government that is doing badly than with one that is doing well.”

James: “My father often said: if you can’t make them love you, make them fear you.”

Salomon Rothschild- to a friend about Nathan: “My brother in London is our commander-in-chief, and I am his field marshal, and, accordingly, it is my duty to do everything in my power, and therefore I must report to my command ...”

Salomon- To Nathan: “Since 1811, I have always come where business called... If my presence is needed in Siberia today... I will go to Siberia.”

Nathan: “I don’t read books, don’t play cards, don’t go to the theater; all my pleasures are my deeds, and therefore I read the letters of Amschel, Salomon, James and Charles.”

Raking the heat with someone else's hands

On the Continent, the Rothschilds lent money to the French for the war, and in Britain, Nathan contributed to the defeat of Bonaparte. The British fought against the occupying French in Portugal and Spain. In 1813, the British army advanced, pushing the enemy back beyond the Pyrenees, when the supply situation became critical. Gold was needed to exchange for local currency. But how to transport a huge amount of precious metal through enemy territories, and who could get so much gold?

Everything was arranged by Nathan Rothschild, who since 1811 had been smuggling the yellow metal to the continent with the help of his brother James, who settled in France. The Minister of the State Treasury, Nicolas Mollien, believed that the leakage of gold would weaken the English economy, and convinced Napoleon of this. Therefore, the French authorities turned a blind eye to the blatant violation of the continental blockade and even gave the “familiar” Rothschilds permission to transport valuable cargo.

In January 1814, the British government commissioned Nathan to carry out the plan. In small quantities, gold was collected from war-drained European cities and safely transported to its destination. “This was the most successful of all my enterprises,” noted Nathan Rothschild himself, to whom the British government began to entrust major financial transactions.

Famous client
Socialist capital

Alexander Herzen was abroad when, in 1849, Nicholas I called on his subjects to return from revolution-ridden Europe, and ignored the order of the autocrat. Russian authorities have seized the capital of the freethinking publicist. Moreover, Russian officials refused to pay for the Moscow Treasury banknotes cashed by Herzen at the James Rothschild Bank in Paris “for political and secret reasons.”

“I couldn’t imagine that your name would have so little weight in Russia!” - Herzen took Rothschild “weakly”. James wrote an angry letter, threatening to go public with the story. Then the Russian authorities would lose trust - and credit! - all the bankers of the world. But just at that time the tsar was trying to get another loan through... James Rothschild. The threat worked, and Herzen was saved from ruin.

Anti-Semitic French cartoon about how Jews, represented by James Rothschild, took over the world

Adapt to changing markets

Nathan financed not only the English army: with Rothschild money, Westminster financed Prussia, Russia and even the future king of France. The authority and influence of the Rothschilds in Europe grew along with the amounts of loans they provided. The constant movements of money during the war influenced exchange rates in different countries. Since these movements were in the hands of the Rothschilds, they were able to predict and partly control the exchange rate.

According to legend, thanks to the Allied victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, Nathan, who learned about it before anyone else in London, became fabulously rich by manipulating British securities. In life, the banker was rather unhappy. “As soon as messages arrived at New Court (Rothschild’s office in London - Around the World) that the end of the war was near,” writes Ferguson, “Nathan was faced not with the fabulous profits of the legend, but with heavy and progressive losses.”

Mayer Amschel Rothschild's grave, Frankfurt am Main

But peacetime brought new opportunities. War-ravaged countries needed loans for reconstruction: James Rothschild financed the government in Paris, Salomon in Vienna, Nathan in London, Karl moved to Naples, and Amschel remained in Frankfurt to continue his father’s work.

This is how the family entered the world elite - in 1816–1818 the brothers received nobility from the Austrian emperor, and in 1822 - a baronial title. Napoleon was going to conquer half the world, but in the end the Rothschilds conquered the world.

"Around the world"

The sons continued the work of their father, they were called “five fingers of one hand”

The founder of the banking dynasty, Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild, was born on February 23, 1744, and died on September 19, 1812. At the age of twelve he began to learn the secrets of financial art at Oppenheimer's bank. At the beginning of his career he was engaged in the trade of ancient coins and medals. He also started buying and selling goods, in particular, he purchased cotton and wool in England at low prices, and sold them in Europe at much higher prices. Later he began supplying coins and gold to aristocrats, and became the personal banker of famous people at that time.

The Rothschilds - the history of the largest financial magnates (Heinrich Schnee). Rothschilds: global underground empire of parasites Emblem of the Rothschild dynasty

Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt

Mayer Amschel's childhood

Success story begins

The father is rich and strong with sons

Promoting well-being

The dynasty continues

* * *

* * *

Paving the way to trust

Put any money into circulation

Serve two or more gentlemen

Raking the heat with someone else's hands

Adapt to changing markets

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