Friedrich Metzler (banker, 1749)

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Portrait by Friedrich Metzler, around 1770

Friedrich Metzler (full name Johann Friedrich Metzler, born September 17, 1749 in Bordeaux , † March 11, 1825 in Offenbach am Main ) was a German banker and patron . Under his leadership, the family business of the Metzlers was converted into the Metzler bank , which still exists today.

He saw his economic prosperity as an obligation for the common good. He is one of the founders of the Städel Art Institute and co-founder of the Senckenberg Natural Research Society .

Metzler was considered an enthusiastic nature lover. He had a lifelong friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe .

Life

Friedrich Metzler comes from the Saxon pastor family Metzler , who has been based in Frankfurt am Main since 1671. He was born in Bordeaux in 1749 as the seventh of twelve children of the married couple Marie Pauline (Paulette) Boyer and Wilhelm Peter Metzler . Friedrich Metzler's father was the grandson of the founder of the Metzler Bank , built up a second company in Bordeaux in the 1730s and from there dealt with the import of colonial goods .

After Metzler's mother died in 1761 and his father in 1762, his aunt Christina Barbara Metzler took him into their care in Frankfurt am Main . She was in charge of the Frankfurt trading and banking house Metzler and allowed Friedrich Metzler to participate in as many work processes as possible in order to prepare him for his later role in the family business.

In 1769 he became a partner in the family company, in 1771 its director and began to convert it into a pure banking house , of which he became sole director in 1792. Metzler got into the government bond business . It began in 1779 with a loan in favor of the Electorate of Bavaria . He was followed by the Electoral Palatinate as a borrower, and in 1795 the Kingdom of Prussia with a loan of one million guilders . Also Saxe-Meiningen and the House of Nassau were just like the House of Orange client of Metzler. Because of his dealings with the Prussian royal family, he was awarded the title of Royal Prussian secret councilor .

In 1779 Metzler married Susanne Fingerlin, the daughter of a wealthy cloth weaver family . This resulted in a substantial increase in capital, which allowed the bank to advance the rapidly growing government bond business.

He caused a stir around 1790 with the idea of ​​making money transactions easier by creating a bank of notes , the forerunner of today's central banks . At that time, his cousin Johann Wilhelm, as councilor of the city of Frankfurt am Main, presented the project developed by Friedrich for a central bank for the imperial city in association with the most important banks in the city, but found no understanding for it due to reservations about paper money . It took decades before utopia became a reality.

From 1789 to 1791 Metzler was Senator of Frankfurt am Main.

He saw his economic prosperity as an obligation for the common good. On May 27, 1818, he was accepted among the founding members of the Senckenberg Natural Research Society . He is also a co-founder of the Städel Art Institute.

In retrospect, his achievements make him the most important representative of his generation in the Metzler family.

Familiar

Friedrich Metzler married Susanne Fingerlin on June 15, 1779 in Frankfurt (born October 22, 1764). His wife died in Frankfurt am Main on June 28, 1799. He had three children with her: Johann Friedrich (1780–1864), citizen, banker and senator in Frankfurt am Main; Christian Benjamin (1781–1863), banker in Frankfurt am Main and Marie Elisabeth, married to Christian Friedrich Koch, wine merchant and English consul .

Tomb of Friedrich Metzler in the old cemetery in Offenbach am Main

Friedrich Metzler died on March 11, 1825. He found his grave in Offenbach am Main. After a few years it was relocated to today's Old Cemetery , when the cemetery , which had been occupied until then, acquired its new purpose as Wilhelmsplatz .

Others

Residence in Offenbach am Main

The temple in a painting by Louis Kolitz (19th century)
The Metzler bathing temple in Offenbach am Main (August 2007)

In 1792 Metzler acquired the property of the factory owner Bernard in Offenbach , which was embedded in a large garden on the Main . At that time, the city was considered a preferred residential complex with a culturally ambitious bourgeoisie. Metzler lived in the house, which the banker initially acquired as a summer residence and retirement home, from 1803 onwards. As an enthusiastic nature lover, he had the associated garden in the Main Terrace in Offenbach planted with rare plants and flowers. The hall and the stairwell of his country house were decorated with a collection of antlers and stuffed animals from the German forest. Goethe recommended the Metzler Garden to the teachers of botany at the Senckenberg Natural Research Society and their listeners for scientific use.

In 1798, Metzler had a bathing temple and tea house built on the property by the French architect Nicolas Alexandre Salins de Montfort . The temple, which is known as Lili-Tempel , is today a cultural monument according to the Hessian Monument Protection Act . It was pure luxury, a topic of conversation for the rich and the poor in the region.

Metzler ran a house open to socializing. In 1813 the King of Prussia visited him there . Baron von Stein and Ernst Moritz Arndt came to see him. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited his friend in 1814 and 1815.

Friendship with Goethe

When Metzler was brought to Frankfurt by his aunt, the Metzlers were on friendly terms with the Goethe family. He was friends with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was a few weeks older than him, from a young age. They were on friendly terms throughout their lives. In October 1814, Goethe and Marianne von Willemer and her husband visited their old friend from the Gerbermühle . Metzler is said to have influenced Goethe's creative work: Metzler also spoke to the former finance minister at the court in Weimar about the project of his life, the note and exchange bank. Goethe then wrote Faust II , where he critically played through the idea of ​​the paper bank.

literature

  • Stefan Ohmeis: Insights. History and stories about the Metzler bank and the von Metzler family in Frankfurt am Main . Ed .: B. Metzler Seel. Sohn & Co. Limited partnership based on shares. Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-00-020894-2 .

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Metzler  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Manfred Pohl : Handbook on the History of European Banks . Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham 1994, ISBN 978-1-78195-421-8 , pp.  450 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ Frankfurter Frauenzimmer - Christina Barbara Metzler (1703–1793). From an exhibition at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt . From: frankfurterfrauenzimmer.de , accessed on May 20, 2016.
  3. ^ A b Markus Plate: Large German family businesses . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-40338-9 , pp. 66 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  4. ↑ a b Advertisement : Notifications . In: Frankfurter Ober-Post-Amts-Zeitung . No.  73 , March 14, 1825, p. 5 ( online in Google Book Search).
  5. ^ Johann Heinrich Merck: Correspondence . tape  3 . Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-8353-0105-4 , p. 558 ( books.google.de - limited preview in Google book search).
  6. ↑ a b c Family entry: Metzler in der Deutschen Biographie , accessed on May 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ History calendar of the city of Frankfurt . In: Frankfurter Jahrbücher . tape  9 , no. 29 . Broenner, April 29, 1837, p. 1 ( online in Google Book Search).
  8. ↑ a b c The centenary of the Senckenberg Natural Research Society on November 22, 1917 . Self-published by the Senckenbergische Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, Frankfurt am Main 1918, DNB 974473340 , p.   50 f . ( archive.org ).
  9. ↑ Metzler, Friedrich. Hessian biography (as of February 12, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on May 20, 2016 .
  10. ↑ a b c d 1825: An Offenbacher who always loved his Offenbach died. From: offenbach.de , accessed on May 20, 2016.
  11. ↑ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Hesse (ed.): Herrnstrasse 100: Metzlersche Badetempel In: DenkXweb, online edition of cultural monuments in Hesse .
  12. ↑ Public concern and private capital: The politician Heiner Geißler and the banker Friedrich von Metzler discuss courage, risk and social responsibility between state regulation and private initiative. In: egonzehnder.com . 2016, archived from the original on May 20, 2016 ; accessed on May 20, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Metzler, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Metzler, Johann Friedrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German banker and patron
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Bordeaux
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1825
Place of death Offenbach am Main