Simon Oppenheim

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Simon Freiherr von Oppenheim (1803–1880) .jpg

Simon Oppenheim , Baron von Oppenheim since 1867 , (born May 21, 1803 in Cologne ; † December 24, 1880 there ) was a German banker and partner in the Sal. Oppenheim bank .

Life

He was the son of the bank's founder Salomon Oppenheim junior and his mother Therese Stein. In 1828 he actively joined his brother Abraham as a partner in the family's banking business. In the first fourteen years the brothers lagged behind the mother with a small turnout of 10% each.

Simon Oppenheim married Henriette Obermeyer (1812–1885) from the Obermeyer family from Augsburg. This brought a substantial dowry into the marriage.

During the time of the two brothers there was an increased focus on the industrial start-up business. During this time, the bank rose to become one of the most important financiers in industry in Germany and especially in the Rhenish-Westphalian industrial area. In particular, the bank invested in the railroad business. The company largely financed the Cologne-Mindener Railway . The brothers were major shareholders and co-founders of various public companies. Simon Oppenheim was a co-founder of the Rheinische Maritime Company. He was the director of this company between 1838 and 1866. He and his brother were closely connected to various companies in the Ruhr area such as Phönix AG . They were also involved in the establishment of the major Darmstädter Bank .

Together with his brother, he was the richest citizen of Cologne with a fortune of 20 million marks in 1870. In 1833 he was also President of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce.

The Oppenheim brothers were strongly committed to Jewish emancipation. They also made a name for themselves as patrons in the cultural and charitable fields. Simon Oppenheim owned a palace at Domkloster 1 in Cologne. He also owned the summer residence "Thürmchen am Rhein". In 1870 he bought Gut Schlenderhan . His goal was to get hold of the presumed brown coal deposits. He paid considerable sums for the construction of the Cologne Cathedral . In the carnival parade in 1824 he was the first to perform in the Venetia .

Oppenheim received the honorary title of a secret council of commerce. He was elevated to the status of Austrian baron in 1867 . In 1868 he was the first Jew in Prussia to be raised to the Prussian baron status by Wilhelm I.

Like his brother, he postponed the handover to the next generation for as long as possible. They continued to reserve the most important decisions.

literature

  • Morten Reitmayer: Banker in the Empire. Social profile and habitus of German high finance. Göttingen, 1999, ISBN 3-525-35799-0 .
  • Gabriele Teichmann:  Family item Oppenheim. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 559 ( digitized version ).
  • Wilhelm Treue: The Cologne bankers Oppenheim: Simon Oppenheim (1803-1880), Abraham Oppenheim (1804-1878) and Dagobert Oppenheim (1809-1889). In: Cologne entrepreneurs in the 19th and 20th centuries (= Rheinisch-Westfälische Wirtschaftsbiographien, Volume 13.) Aschendorff, Münster 1986, pp. 171–202.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gabriele Teichmann: The Oppenheim family - a Rhenish banking dynasty . "Portal Rhenish History" of the Rhineland Regional Association , December 6, 2010, accessed on February 2, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Oppenheim, Simon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oppenheim, Simon Freiherr von (full name); Oppenheim, Simon von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION banker
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1880
Place of death Cologne