Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

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Ludwig Passini : Portrait of Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 1894
Ernst von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Ernst Mendelssohn-Bartholdy , von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy since 1896 , (born December 13, 1846 in Berlin , † December 24, 1909 in Dresden ) was one of the most important and influential German private bankers of his time and a member of the Mendelssohn family .

Life

He was the son of Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Albertine, b. Heine. His siblings were Pauline, Katharine, Gotthold and Fanny. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy was his uncle. On January 23, 1875 he married Marie Warschauer, a daughter of the banker Robert Warschauer and Marie Mendelssohn and granddaughter of Alexander Mendelssohn . The couple had six children: the future banker Paul , the daughters Käthe, Charlotte, Enole and Marie as well as Alexander, who later became landowners.

Ernst Mendelssohn-Bartholdy received a good education and passed his Abitur in 1863/64. He studied at the University of Berlin and then completed a commercial apprenticeship at home and abroad. In 1869 he traveled through the United States for three and a half months . He then joined his father's banking house Mendelssohn & Co. , of which he became a partner in 1871. Together with Franz von Mendelssohn , he took over the management of the bank after their father's death in 1874.

During the joint management, the bank rose to become one of the most important European private banks. Ernst (von) Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was also a member of the central committee of the Reichsbank and chairman of the supervisory board of the Berliner Kassenverein . In 1887 he became the elder of the Berlin merchants corporation. As such, he was also a member of the Stock Exchange Quete Commission in 1892/93 .

In 1908 he had an income of around 2.9 million marks a year. This made him the most highly taxed citizen of Berlin. He was seventeenth on the list of the richest Prussian residents of Prussia. In addition to a house in Berlin, he had owned the Börnicke manor near Bernau since 1892 . He was buried with his wife Marie at the village church in Börnicke (Bernau) .

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy had excellent social connections right up to the highest political circles, such as Otto von Bismarck or the Russian court. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who was nationally, monarchist and conservative, also held Wilhelm II in high esteem. He dedicated his most important public foundations to him. These included the music autograph collection inherited from his father and the Villa Falconieri near Rome . He was also active as a patron in the fields of art, social aid and science.

Wilhelm II raised Mendelssohn-Bartholdy to the nobility in 1896. Although his grandfather Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy had already converted from Judaism to Protestantism, Ernst (von) Mendelssohn-Bartholdy remained exposed to anti-Jewish prejudices. In 1902 he was appointed a member of the Prussian manor house by the emperor . In addition to numerous medals, he was awarded the position of Consul General of Denmark . In 1889 he was promoted to the Commercial Council and in 1893 to the Privy Commercial Council. In 1909 he was finally given the title of Real Secret Council with the predicate of excellence.

literature

  • Morten Reitmeyer: Bankers in the Empire. Social profile and habitus of German high finance . Göttingen, 1999, ISBN 978-3-525-35799-6 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Ernst von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1909
Place of death Dresden