Jakob Rothschild

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Jakob Rothschild
Betty de Rothschild, Baronne de Rothschild 1848, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Chateau de Ferrières-en-Brie by James de Rothschild

Jakob Mayer Rothschild (later James de Rothschild ; born May 15, 1792 in Frankfurt am Main , † November 15, 1868 in Paris ) was the founder of the French branch of the influential Rothschild banking family .

Early years

He was the youngest of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild . In contrast to his brothers, Jakob not only received the usual Jewish upbringing, but was also taught foreign languages ​​and literature by a tutor.

Jakob Rothschild went to Paris in 1811 as a representative of his brother Nathan . During this time he was involved in the organization of the gold smuggling to England and the financing of the British army under Wellington .

From 1814 Rothschild lived permanently in Paris. There he founded the bank MM. De Rothschild Frères in 1817 . He was connected with the other brothers through partnership agreements. As the youngest partner, he initially only controlled a small part of the family capital, but in 1818 received the same share as his brothers.

1822, the five Rothschild brothers were by the Austrian Emperor Franz I. to Barons appointed Jacob changed his name to James de Rothschild.

On July 11, 1824, Rothschild married Betty Salomon von Rothschild (1805–1886), the daughter of his brother Salomon Rothschild, in Frankfurt am Main .

Leading banker in France

Front view of the lock

He had good political contacts. From 1823 he took a leading role among the French bankers when he largely financed the French invasion of Spain . He reached the height of his influence after the July Revolution of 1830 . On behalf of the government under Louis Philippe , he was involved in the issue of various government bonds. He also helped to drive industrialization in France. He invested heavily in the construction of the first French railways and was, among other things, the owner of the French Northern Railway , which connected Paris with the North Sea . He was also responsible for the planning and construction of the Gare du Nord in Paris.

After the death of his brother Nathan in 1836, Jakob took over the management of the Rothschild banking group. Under Napoleon III. he lost part of his political influence, but continued to finance state projects and wars. In addition, he had to defend himself from the attacks of the Société Générale du Crédit Mobilier since 1852 . The conflict between the Rothschild bank and the rival company spread to other countries. Rothschild succeeded in maintaining the leadership position of his house.

Social life

In his town house on Rue Laffitte , Rothschild and his wife Betty had an important drawing room . This was the meeting point for numerous personalities from political, business, social and artistic life. Honoré de Balzac , Ludwig Börne and Heinrich Heine reported on it. The sentence "Money is the God of our time and Rothschild is his prophet" from March 1841 has been handed down by Heine.

From 1855 he had Ferrières Castle built near Paris , which was to become the permanent seat of the family. At his death, Rothschild probably had the largest private financial fortune of the time.

progeny

The marriage between James de Rothschild and his niece Betty resulted in the following children:

  • Charlotte de Rothschild (1825-1899); married her London cousin Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812-1870), who went from London to Paris as the second-born son, where he entered his father-in-law's banking house. He suffered a hunting accident in 1855 and was paralyzed and later blind.
  • Alphonse de Rothschild (* 1827 - 26 May 1905 in Paris); After the death of his father and his brother Gustave de Rothschild took over the management of the banking house MM. de Rothschild Frères. He was married to his cousin Leonora de Rothschild from London
  • Gustave de Rothschild (* 1829; † 1911) ⚭ Cécile Anspach; 6 children, took over the management of the banking house MM. De Rothschild Frères with his brother Alphonse de Rothschild after the death of his father , as director of Chemin de Fer du Nord he mainly looked after the family's interests in the railways
  • Salomon de Rothschild (* 1835; † 1864); married his cousin Adèle de Rothschild from the Naples branch in 1862
  • Edmond de Rothschild (* 1845; † 1934) ⚭ 1877 his cousin Adelheid von Rothschild , called Adélaïde de Rothschild (1853–1935) from the Frankfurt branch of the Rothschild dynasty; 3 children; was a horse lover (horse breeding and horse racing stable), a committed great art collector and above all "father of modern Israel". His descendants are among the richest Rothschilds today.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.rothschildarchive.org ( Memento from March 31, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ www.rothschild.info ( Memento from December 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Rothschild - "Second Continuation". In: zeit.de. March 28, 1969, Retrieved December 9, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Rothschild, Jakob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rothschild, James de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION banker
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1792
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1868
Place of death Paris