Mathilde von Rothschild

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Hannah Mathilde Freifrau von Rothschild (born March 5, 1832 in Frankfurt am Main , Roßmarkt 9; † March 8, 1924 there ) was a German patron of the Jewish faith.

The Roßmarkt at the time of Mathilde von Rothschild's birth

Life

Mathilde von Rothschild was the second eldest daughter of Anselm Salomon von Rothschild , a head of the Rothschild family in Vienna. In 1849 she married the banker Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild , who was a cousin of her father.

Rothschild House (with gable) on the Zeil, around 1880

Living in Frankfurt and in the Taunus

New Palace at the Green Castle ( Grüneburgpark )
Villa Rothschild in Koenigstein

The couple's residence was initially (1849) the Rothschild house (Zeilpalast) on Zeil 34 (today around 92), which Amschel Mayer had acquired from Rothschild in 1834. In 1903 Rothschild founded the Freiherrlich Wilhelm u., Named after her and her deceased husband . Baroness Mathilde von Rothschild'sche retirement home for Israelite women and virgins of better classes . The 25-seat monastery was evacuated by the National Socialists in 1941. After that, until the destruction in 1944, it was the main command post of the homeless police.

In the second half of the 1860s, Willi von Rothschild and his wife moved to the palace in the Grüneburg area. The Grüneburg area has belonged to the Rothschilds since 1837, and in 1845 they built a castle there. In the later years the baroness often stayed in Königstein , where she had her villa in the midst of large parks (later the Hotel Sonnenhof).

Excerpt from the text: “In the wonderful mountainous location of the Taunus, surrounded by a wreath of castles and villas, lovely meadows and forests and majestic mountains, lies Königstein im Taunus , known as one of the most beautiful points in Germany and because of its extremely picturesque location and others Advantages rightly praised as the “Pearl of the Taunus”. (...) But modern times have also created great structures in Königstein. The castle of your Kgl is not far from the ruins . Highness of the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and opposite the ruins, characterizing the “then” and “now”, the pompous Andreae palace . Furthermore, it is the possessions of the Borgniss family , Baroness von Steiger, Freiherrn von Bethmann , Baroness von Rothschild and others, some of which, as architectural works of art, increase the scenic charm. In the neighborhood, on the street Homburg- Königstein, is the Friedrichshof Palace , the summer stay of Princess Friedrich Karl of Hesse . "

Musical interest

The baroness was artistically gifted and composed smaller pieces. The artists of the Kronberg painter's colony frequented the imperial Friedrichshof Palace , and this group was often invited to the baroness, not only in Königstein, but also in Grüneburg. Also Frédéric Chopin was seen frequently there. Mathilde took piano lessons from him. Around 1894 she set a poem by Victor Hugo to music : Si vous n'avez rien à me dire ...

The baroness in a chronicle of the Weimar Republic

“In her beautiful Frankfurter Palais, in the summer on her country estate in the Taunus, she received not only the company of her hometown, but also numerous princely people, such as the Empress Friedrich , her brother Eduard VII ., The Grand Ducal couple of Hesse , the various in and around Members of the Landgrave Hessian family living in Frankfurt and others. Even Wilhelm II. Was several times as a guest of the witty and he highly appreciated Baroness. It is well known that the Rothschilds have remained true to their faith and strictly follow the ritual rules of the Jewish religion. The late Baroness Mathilde Rothschild only ate kosher meat and, since she served her guests with normal food, never touched a bite at the big dinners she gave. "

Patronage

In the documentation of the Königstein city archivist Sturm-Godramstein it says about her: The baroness, who taxed 430 million marks annually in assets, was artistically gifted: she made music and composed a little. As a patron, her name will not be forgotten. Their richly endowed foundations benefited research and the arts as well as charity. This also included a foundation for single women of all denominations.

Paul Arnsberg writes about her: The baroness was an outstanding personality and had the energy specific to the founding generation of the Rothschilds. She was an important patron and supported many scientific research projects at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg to a significant extent . Above all, she was active in the field of charity.

The Wiesbaden Main State Archives only contain fragmentary information about their donations. (The main arrangements had already been made by her husband.) But some things deserve to be mentioned:

  • to the city of Frankfurt am Main 500,000 marks (together with the donation of Freiherr von Goldschmidt-Rothschild 1 million marks);
  • Foundation for poor Israelites in Frankfurt am Main 250,000 marks;
  • for the new building of the Israelite Girls Orphanage 160,000 marks;
  • for the new construction of an Israelite hospital 50,000 marks;
Memorial for the former synagogue, which was co-financed by the baroness
The synagogue can be recognized by the edge of the forest on this Cinderella
  • It made funds available to the Israelite orphanage in Uhlandstrasse in Frankfurt am Main, as well as to the sanatorium for poor Israelites in Bad Soden .
  • She donated 100,000 marks for a hall to the hospital of the Israelite community in Gagernstrasse in Frankfurt am Main.
  • The construction of the Königstein synagogue , which was completed in 1906, was made possible by a donation of 50,000 marks.
  • The Museum of Jewish Antiquities in Frankfurt am Main was set up in 1922 with their help in the former Rothschild banking house, as was the Rothschild Museum there, at Fahrgasse 146.
  • In Baden-Baden she bought a house in which a rest home for exhausted women was built. She was very interested in the Israelitische Lungenheilstätte in Nordrach , a foundation of her daughter Adelheid, the Baroness Edmond de Rothschild , Paris , which donated an amount of 1 million marks as start-up capital. But Mathilde also left a not insignificant legacy to this foundation.
  • Her hospital foundations included the Rothschild'sche Hospital and the Georgine Sara von Rothschild'sche Foundation, named after her eldest daughter, who died young.
  • She largely donated the pulmonary hospital in Ruppertshain , which was headed by Fritz Hallgarten .
  • in 1911 for the new building of the Dr. Hugo Amelung in Königstein 100,000 marks;
  • in 1905 for a spacious rest home for active officers in Falkenstein . Kaiser Wilhelm II had literally “begged” the necessary money, and he personally visited Baroness Rothschild.
  • for soldiers' foundations 30,000 marks etc.

If the baroness sat at her desk, she could have been considered a ruling princess. (She was often compared to the Romanian poet queen Carmen Silva .) She was the richest woman in Frankfurt. Estimates of the amount of their wealth vary widely. Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild had set “my two dear children, Adelheid and Minna” in equal parts as the main inheritors. His wife only had the smaller part. Nonetheless, Mathilde von Rothschild was one of the richest women in Germany.

After the baroness's death

Grave of Mathilde von Rothschild (right)

The baroness had disposed of her property in numerous individual gates. The Villa Rothschild in Königstein inherited her grandson Rudolf von Goldschmidt-Rothschild (born November 1, 1881, † September 8, 1962 in Basel , buried next to his brother Albert in the family grave in Lausanne ). He had studied painting in Munich and lived as a painter in Frankfurt am Main, was temporarily a member of the committee or board of the Israelite Community and was a valued host, especially for artists and journalists, including Heinrich Simon . In 1938 he emigrated to Switzerland. Finally it should be noted that Rudolf von Goldschmidt-Rothschild and his four siblings married out of the Jewish faith.

In the 1960s, the Rothschild heirs sold a plot of land in Königstein on which a Protestant community center was being built.

Appreciation

Mathildenstrasse and Mathildenplatz in the Oberrad district were named after Mathilde von Rothschild in Frankfurt am Main .

literature

  • Heinz Sturm-Godramstein: Jews in Königstein - life, meaning, fates . City archive Königstein im Taunus, 1983, ISBN 3-9800793-0-9 .
  • Paul Arnsberg : The history of the Frankfurt Jews since the French Revolution, Volume 3 - Biographisches Lexikon. Darmstadt 1983, ISBN 3-7929-0130-7 , p. 390. (Michael Moses Mainz, who was the baroness's advisor on foundation matters for many years, writes about this in the Israelitisches Gemeindeblatt, vol. 4 (1925/26), no. 7 , P. 5f.)
  • Walther Amelung : Be it as it may, it was so beautiful - life memories as contemporary history. Rasch, Frankfurt am Main 1984, ISBN 3-9800951-0-X .

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ Kurt von Reibnitz (published anonymously): Gestalten around Hindenburg. Leading figures of the republic and today's Berlin society . Reissner, Dresden, 3rd edition 1930, p. 188.
  2. ↑ Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv (HHStAW), Section 407: Prussian Police Headquarters Frankfurt aM , File 672.
  3. ↑ The Georgine Sara von Rothschild Foundation was revitalized in 1976 on the initiative of Paul Arnsberg .
  4. ↑ Testament of February 17, 1896.
personal data
SURNAME Rothschild, Mathilde von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rothschild, Hannah Mathilde von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German patroness
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1924
Place of death Frankfurt am Main