Some 250 years after the founder of the Rothschild dynasty came into the world in Frankfurt, that city is paying tribute to the family, which has left an indelible mark on European and Jewish life.
The Jewish Museum of Frankfurt, which is located in a former Rothschild mansion, is displaying the story of that family in an unprecedented exhibition of articles, documents and pictures.
The dynasty of financiers and philanthropists was begun in Frankfurt by Mayer Amschel, who was born in 1744 on the Judengasse (Jews Street) of Frankfurt, where he died in 1812.
Until Mayer Amschel, the family members were undistinguished merchants or civil servants.
Mayer Amschel traded in antiques and old coins and engaged in money changing. in 1764, he began doing business with a coin collector who became a titled landowner, William IX of Hesse-Kassel, who was an heir to Europe’s then-largest fortune.
In 1769, Mayer Amschel was given the title of court agent.
It was from Frankfurt that the five sons of Mayer Amschel, bearing the name Rothschild and known as the “five Frankfurters,” set out on a successful course.
Amschel Mayer Rothschild (1773-185), who was the eldest, remained in Frankfurt; Saloman Mayer (1774-1855) emigrated to Vienna; Nathan (1777-1836) went to England, first to Manchester and then London; Carl (1788-1855) moved to Naples; and James (1792-1868) to Paris.
Meanwhile, the five daughter of Mayer Amschel played no role in the banking empire, as specifically stipulated in their father’s will.
The exhibition tells the story of the Rothschilds as the story of Jewish emancipation, from behind-the-scene- economic and political advisers to their roles as major economic players.
The Rothschilds proudly preserved their Jewish identity. Lionel de Rothschild was first elected to the British Parliament in 1847. He was re-elected to the position but could only occupy his parliamentary seat in 1858, when he was no longer expected to take a vow “in the true Faith of a Christian.”
The exhibition unfolds the Rothschild story in 11 parts. Among its features is the family’s expensive and artfully crafted furniture and its expensive works of art.
Also on display is an ancient safe-deposit box used in one of the Rothschild banks, which survived the world wars and was found at the site of a construction company shortly before the exhibition was opened.
The exhibition also display the less pleasant aspects of the Rothschild influence in Europe, such as anti-Semitic caricatures and an anti-Semitic Nazi about the family, titled “The Rothschilds.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
