Moses Petschek

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Moses ben Israel Petschek, Halevi (born September 15, 1822 in Petschek , † July 30, 1888 in Prague ) was a Bohemian entrepreneur. He is considered to be the founder of the Petschek entrepreneurial dynasty , which was one of the richest Jewish families in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Life

Moses Petschek was the fourth child of Israel Petschek, Halevi (1789–1852) and Alina Petschek, nee. Raudnitz (~ 1795-1865). He had nine siblings: Jakob (1817–1822), Salomon (1819, infant death after 6 weeks), Joseph (1820–1835), Samuel (1825–1890), Amalia (1828–1835), Lucia, called Leny (1831– 1905), Abraham , called Adolf (1834–1905), Anna (1836–1917) and Emanuel (1839, infant death after 5 months). The gender name Halevi indicates descendants from the tribe of the Levites and is hereditary in the male line.

The family belonged to the Kolin Jewish Community , whose members also lived in neighboring towns of Kolin . Legend has it that his grandfather, Samuel Petschek, Halevi (~ 1746–1822) recognized Moses' ambition shortly after he was born, but also prophesied that he had bad character traits . Little is known about his childhood and youth. The family was German-speaking and lived in poor conditions. His father made a living as a peddler with textiles.

It is very likely that Moses Petschek did three years of military service in the KK Army after he was 17 , which was compulsory for Jews in all Habsburg countries since 1788. The military service was accepted with great enthusiasm , especially by the Jewish population of the western crown lands , as the period of service was seen as a subsequent guarantee for civil equality and integration. Incidentally, a ransom from military service, known as "Reluierung" or "Reluition", was no longer possible in the Austrian Empire from 1806 onwards.

Like his father, Moses Petschek earned his first own money as a peddler. At first he traded in scrap metal, potash and fuels. Through these deals he was able to build up his first modest reserves and increasingly appeared as a moneylender . In the summer of 1853, Moses Petschek married Sara Wiener (1827-1894) from Jungbunzlau . The multi-day chuppah took place in Kowanitz instead. The marriage had four children: Isidor Petschek (1854–1919), Rosa Petschek (1855–1934), Julius Petschek (1856–1932) and Ignaz Petschek (1857–1934). His children were all born in Kolin. In the census in Bohemia in 1857, he stated that his activity was “trader with various goods”.

From the middle of the 1850s the Austro-Hungarian State Railroad Company (StEG) expanded the route network of the former kk Nordbahn . Moses Petschek recognized the value of the fields along the future railway line and shifted his main occupation entirely to money lending and land speculation . With these deals he laid the foundation for the future family empire. At that time, an average interest rate of between 2 and 6% was common. Moses Petschek lent his money mainly to simple farmers for 10% interest, which, unlike other financial service providers, is due after the harvest .

Through his doorstep business , he knew the ownership structure of the parcels as well as the economic and family situation of the owners. He specifically sought out small farms along the Kolin – Pardubitz route and awakened needs among the farmers that often did not exist before, such as financing a new tool or a higher dowry . Moses Petschek achieved the highest profits when there was no harvest. As a result, his debtors were unable to repay the loan. For these cases, he had agreed in advance in writing on a replacement in kind in the form of the assignment of parcels and rigorously enforced the attachment by court.

He then sold the land to the StEG or to mining companies. In this way, Moses Petschek acquired a large amount of real estate in Wellim (Velim in Czech), Siegfeld (Vítězov), Petschek (Pečky), Pinow (Pňov), Wrbowa Lhota ( Vrbová Lhota ), Owtschar ( Ovčáry u Kolína ) and Glückzu (Klipec). From the mid-1860s onwards, he expanded his transactions to the Brüx area , where, at the same time as the construction of the Aussig-Teplitz Railway, the industrial exploration of lignite mines in the North Bohemian Basin took place. With the purchase of shares in the Brüxer Kohlen-Bergbau-Gesellschaft in 1871, the family's business involvement in the coal and steel industry began . In the period that followed, the company's securities were among the most important objects of speculation for the Petscheks on the Vienna Stock Exchange .

He handled the purchase of the shares through his brother Abraham, who was twelve years his junior, who lived in Vienna and had been registered as a freelance stockbroker since 1865 . Abraham Petschek, called Adolf, founded the Viennese line of the family dynasty . From the mid-1860s, Moses Petschek succeeded in advancing into the upper class . At this time he was already living with his family in their own town house with house servants on Kolin market square. Financially he was able to send his sons Isidor and Julius to the kk grammar school and boarding school in Pilsen , later both studied law at the German-speaking Charles University .

The family placed little hope in his youngest son Ignaz, who dropped out of school after the 6th grade. Moses Petschek later found a meaningless job as an intern in a bank for him only through the contacts of his brother Abraham. However, it was Ignaz Petschek who later became the richest Czech as a coal merchant , followed by Thomas Bata and his brothers. Moses Petschek raised his sons in the spirit of his principles, which included a ruthless elbow mentality and a relentless pursuit of profit . He also instilled in them that in business you shouldn't even trust your brother. Another command from him was: "Buy cheap, sell high", which became the business maxim of all Petscheks.

From the beginning of the 1870s he offered his financing business throughout Austria-Hungary and placed, among other things, weekly single-line advertisements in the then Börsenblatt Wiener Volkswirthschaftliche Zeitung , for example “Moses Petschek – Geldverleih – Kolin” or “Moses Petschek – Wechselhaus – Kolin”. He also gradually bought securities through his brother Abraham and invested his growing fortune in a number of companies. However, he did not buy the shares for himself, but for his children.

The highest profits Moses Petschek scored unchanged through seizure and auction of land delinquent debtors. He enforced his claims with all severity by means of execution . The disproportion between performance (money lending) and consideration (high interest, cession of land) led to the fact that he was expelled from Kolin in 1876 for usury . The usury in the country took on extreme forms at this time, which many municipalities tried to combat by withdrawing the right to live. Although the legislature regarded such transactions as dishonest , the Interest Act of 1868 established complete freedom of contract in Austria-Hungary . It was not until 1881 that usury became punishable nationwide.

The reputation of the Pechek in Kolin was so damaged that even Moses' grandchildren avoided visiting the city throughout their lives. First he moved with his family to the Baiervek farm near Wellim, which he had recently acquired by seizure. In the same year Moses Petschek was driven out of Wellim by an angry crowd and settled in Prague 1, Štupartská 1028, today No. 9. With the change of residence, his business area changed. Moses Petschek recognized the growing potential of lignite as the heating raw material of the future and from then on bought shares in newly founded banks and mining companies.

His investments in the Brüxer Kohlen-Bergbau-Gesellschaft and Nordböhmischen Kohlenwerke AG developed into the most profitable cash cows . Thus, in Austria-Hungary, the lignite production rose from 2.5 million tons in 1873 to 18.5 million tons in 1900, the majority of these two companies to day were promoted. Moses Petschek died on June 30, 1888 at the age of 66 in the upscale Prague villa district of Bubentsch (Bubeneč) and was buried in the Wolschaner cemetery .

He left a very well-established company and extensive fortune to his descendants. His sons continued the family's rise to one of the most important entrepreneurial dynasties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their economic empire later comprised banks and numerous company shares in the coal, paper, glass and chemical industries. In the interwar period , the Petscheks controlled 50 percent of the European lignite industry and were among the richest Jewish families in Europe. Most of the descendants now live in the USA and Argentina .

Literature (selection)

  • Karel Kratochvíl: Bankéři. Praha Nakladatelelství politické literatury, 1962, pp. 140, 220–221, 294–295, 324.
  • Joseph C. Pick: The Economy. In: Guido Kisch , Hans Kohn u. a. (Ed.): The Jews of Czechoslovakia. Historical studies and surveys. Vol. 1. Jewish Publication Society of America (Philadelphia), 1968, pp. 359-438.
  • Gustav Otruba : The share of Jews in the economic life of the Bohemian countries since the beginning of industrialization. in: Ferdinand Seibt (Ed.): The Jews in the Bohemian countries. Oldenbourg, 1983, pp. 209-268.

Web links

Commons : Familie Petschek  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cesta od lichvářů po uhlobarony skončila pro Petschky za oceánem Mladá fronta Dnes of February 6, 2018, accessed on May 24, 2020.
  2. ↑ Further information and research by Mark Petschek about Moses Petschek, Halevi at www.geni.com.
  3. ^ Klaus Grünwaldt: Levi. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 4. Bautz, Herzberg 1992, Sp. 1565-1572.
  4. ↑ Karel Kratochvil: Bankéři. Praha Nakladatelelství politické literatury, 1962, pp. 140 f.
  5. ^ Norman Eisen: The Last Palace. Europe's Extraordinary Century Through Five Lives and One House in Prague. Hachette UK, 2018, p. 15 f.
  6. ↑ Ambassador's Residence US Embassy in Czech Republic, accessed June 5, 2020.
  7. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Michael Berger: Be strong and brave! Jews in German and Austro-Hungarian armies in World War I. Jewish front fighters' associations in the Weimar Republic and the Republic of German Austria. Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, 2016, pp. 136–137.
  9. ^ Institute for Austrian Studies (Ed.): Austria in History and Literature with Geography, Volume 35. Vienna, 1991, p. 19.
  10. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  11. ↑ Uwe Johnson's commentary on the Petschek family, University of Rostock, accessed on May 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  13. ↑ Ivan Štern, Valerie Saara: Petschek z Peček in: Magazín Be the Best of June 11, 2018, p. 39, accessed on May 25, 2020.
  14. ↑ History of the interest rate development of the Bavarian Cooperative Association , accessed on May 25, 2020.
  15. ↑ Dominika Šiková: Bakalárska práca. Židovské podnikateľské aktivity na území Českej republiky. Dissertation. Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2006, p. 34 f.
  16. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  17. ↑ Dominika Šiková: Bakalárska práca. Židovské podnikateľské aktivity na území Českej republiky. Dissertation. Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2006, p. 34 f.
  18. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  19. ↑ Židé a finance - Petschkové: Magnáti od Kolína finmag of June 9, 2008, accessed on May 31, 2020.
  20. ↑ Petr Štěrba: Rodina Petschků: Čeští Rothschildové? (1. část). Univerzity Karlovy, November 15, 2017. finmag from June 9, 2008, accessed on May 31, 2020.
  21. ↑ Petschek, Julius Deutsche Biographie , accessed on May 31, 2020.
  22. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  23. ^ KK Gymnasium zu Pilsen (Ed.): Annual report of the KK Gymnasium zu Pilsen for the school year 1867. Carl Maasch Pilsen, 1867, p. 59 and appendix statistics.
  24. ↑ Petschek, Julius Deutsche Biographie , accessed on May 31, 2020.
  25. ↑ Petschek & Co. Books Discovered Once Again, accessed on June 2, 2020.
  26. ↑ Otto H. Luken, Clara Luken (ed.): The selection from magazines of all languages. Verlag Luken & Luken, Berlin, 1932, p. 431.
  27. ↑ Karel Kratochvil: Bankéři. Praha Nakladatelelství politické literatury, 1962, pp. 140 f.
  28. ↑ Cesta od lichvářů po uhlobarony skončila pro Petschky za oceánem Mladá fronta Dnes of February 6, 2018, accessed on May 25, 2020.
  29. ↑ Gonschorowski (Ed.): Wiener Volkswirthschaftliche Zeitung. Commercial courier for the Orient. Economics and fiction weekly paper. Collection 1873. Kk Hofbibliothek Wien, 1873, p. 8 f.
  30. ↑ Dominika Šiková: Bakalárska práca. Židovské podnikateľské aktivity na území Českej republiky. Dissertation. Univerzita Karlova v Praze, 2006, p. 34 f.
  31. ↑ Petschek & Co. Books Discovered Once Again, accessed on May 15, 2020.
  32. ^ Carl Graf Chorinsky: The usury in Austria. Hölder, 1877, p. 130.
  33. ↑ Ulrike Köbler: Becoming, changing and being of the German private law vocabulary. Peter Lang, 2010, p. 179.
  34. ↑ Židé a finance - Petschkové: Magnáti od Kolína finmag of June 9, 2008, accessed on June 1, 2020.
  35. ↑ Smutný Petschkův palác Praha Neznámá, accessed on June 2, 2020.
  36. ↑ Jaroslav Češpiva (editor-in-chief): Petschkové. in: Velimské noviny No. 162, Opec Velim, 2008, p. 8.
  37. ↑ Evropské bankéřské rody - Rotschildové a Petschkové Bankovnictvi of December 8, 2015, accessed on June 2, 2020.
  38. ↑ Peter Bayer: Močna dynasty Petschků. Investum Osobní profesní stránka, 2010. Investum archive, accessed on June 2, 2020.
  39. ↑ Moses Petschek's obituary at www. geni.com.
  40. ↑ Peter Bayer: Močna dynasty Petschků. Investum Osobní profesní stránka, 2010. Investum archive, accessed on June 2, 2020.
  41. ↑ Petschek & Co. Books Discovered Once Again, accessed on June 2, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Petschek, Moses
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moses ben Israel Petschek (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION bohemian entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH Petschek , Kingdom of Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1888
Place of death Prague , Kingdom of Bohemia