Franz von Mendelssohn (the elder)

Franz von Mendelssohn, 1884 by Max Koner

Franz Mendelssohn (since 1888 by Mendelssohn ) (born January 25, 1829 in Berlin ; † February 20, 1889 there ) was a German banker from the Mendelssohn family .

Life

He was the son of Alexander Mendelssohn and his wife Marianne, geb. Seeligmann. In 1856 he married Enole, née Biarnez, the widow of his late brother Adolph Mendelssohn (1826-1851). The sons Robert and Franz emerged from the marriage.

Enole von Mendelssohn, portrait by Eduard Magnus

Since the 1850s, he has been one of the owners of the private bank founded by his grandfather in 1795 . The financing of the Russian state was of great importance. The bank participated in Russian government bonds and the construction of railway lines.

Mendelssohn himself was in contact with the leaders of Berlin society. Since 1871 he was a member of the elders of the corporation of the Berlin merchants. This elected him in 1881 as their head. He was a member of the Society of Friends .

In addition, he was very music-loving and belonged to Clara Schumann's circle of friends .

Emperor Friedrich III. Mendelssohn raised to the nobility in 1888 because he consciously wanted to honor a representative of a liberal family. Mendelssohn himself, however, was rather conservative. He therefore made sure that Otto von Bismarck would approve the elevation of the nobility.

Tomb of Franz von Mendelssohn and his wife Enole

He found his final resting place in a family grave in the Protestant cemetery of the Berlin Jerusalem and New Church Community I , in Department 3/1.

literature

Christof Biggeleben: The "bulwark of the bourgeoisie." The Berlin merchants 1870-1920 ; Munich 2006, ISBN 978-3-406-549939 , pp. 153-155.
Elisabeth Komar: Mendelssohn, Franz v .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 61 f. ( Digitized version ). (Notes in the article on the son).
Robert and Clara Schumann in correspondence with the Mendelssohn family , ed. by Kristin RM Krahe, Katrin Reyersbach and Thomas Synofzik (= Schumann-Briefedition , Series II, Volume 1), Cologne: Dohr 2009, pp. 335-460

Individual evidence

↑ Thomas Lackmann, My father's son: Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy and the ways of the Mendelssohns, Wallstein Verlag, 2008, ISBN 383530111X , p. 654.

personal data
SURNAME	Mendelssohn, Franz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Mendelssohn, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German banker
DATE OF BIRTH	January 25, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	February 20, 1889
Place of death	Berlin

[1] Thomas Lackmann, My father's son: Abraham Mendelssohn Bartholdy and the ways of the Mendelssohns, Wallstein Verlag, 2008, ISBN 383530111X , p. 654.