Meyer Amschel Flörsheim

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Meyer Amschel Flörsheim (also Mayer Amschel Flersheim ; * unknown in Frankfurt am Main , † after 1783 in Vienna ) was a Frankfurt trader who converted from Judaism to Christianity.

He belonged to the large Frankfurt Jewish family Flörsheim, was the son of Amschel Löb Flörsheim (for the green lion; died 1755) and ran a prosperous trading business in the 18th century. In 1758 he began quarreling with the Jewish community and the city council when he opposed the circulation of "bad money", ie coins whose material value had been reduced by circumcision . Some money changers among Frankfurt's Jews were involved in getting such money into circulation, with the approval of the council. Flörsheim denounced both of them to Emperor Franz I Stephan , whereupon imperial agents investigated the case in the city. The lawsuit was dismissed. Flörsheim was accused of stealing money in 1754 and was temporarily imprisoned for other offenses.

After 1760 Flörsheim lived partly in Mainz in the Electorate of Mainz , partly in Vienna, where he converted to Christianity, and took the name Aegidius Neuhaus . His wife Hindle, the daughter of Löw Schwarzschild, did not follow him and was divorced. Flörsheim accused her of blasphemy against Christianity before the spiritual court in Mainz . However, the Frankfurt Council rejected the Mainz jurisdiction, which is why there was no trial. Flörsheim also sued his brother Moses in Frankfurt in business matters. During a stay in Frankfurt's Judengasse in 1768 , he was ambushed and seriously wounded. His trace is lost after 1783 in Vienna, where he was imprisoned again for having falsified silver himself.

literature

  • André Griemert : Jewish lawsuits against imperial nobles . Trials at the Reichshofrat in the reign of Rudolf II and Franz I Stephan. (Old Reich library, vol. 16), De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin / Munich / Boston / Massachusetts 2014, ISBN 978-311035267-2
  • Georg Ludwig Kriegk : History of Frankfurt am Main in selected representations: according to documents and acts . Heyder & Zimmer, 1871 ( google.de [accessed April 4, 2020]).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Flörsheim, Meyer Amschel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neuhaus, Aegidius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman in Frankfurt am Main and Vienna
DATE OF BIRTH 17th century or 18th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH after 1780
Place of death Vienna