Anselm Salomon von Schwartz Rothschild, Baron Rothschild (29 January 1803 – 27 July 1874) was an Austrian banker, founder of the

Creditanstalt The Creditanstalt (sometimes Credit-Anstalt, abbreviated as CA), full original name k. k. priv. Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe (), was a major Austrian bank, founded in 1855 in Vienna. From its founding until 1931, the ...

, and a member of the Vienna branch of the

Rothschild family The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish noble banking family originally from Frankfurt. The family's documented history starts in 16th-century Frankfurt; its name is derived from the family house, Rothschild, ...

Family

He was born in the Imperial City of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, the son of ''

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

Salomon Mayer von Rothschild Salomon Mayer Freiherr von Rothschild (9 September 1774 – 28 July 1855) was a Frankfurt-born banker in the Austrian Empire and the founder of the Austrian branch of the prominent Rothschild family. Family Born as Salomon Mayer Rothschild in ...

(1774–1855), ancestor of the family's Austrian branch, and his wife Caroline Stern (1782–1854). He had a younger sister Betty (1805–1874), who married her French uncle

James Mayer de Rothschild Baron James Mayer de Rothschild (born Jakob Mayer Rothschild; 15 May 1792 – 15 November 1868) was a French banker and the founder of the French branch of the prominent Rothschild family. He was born in the Holy Roman Empire. Early life He ...

. According to the testament left by progenitor

Mayer Amschel Rothschild Mayer Amschel Rothschild (23 February 1744 – 19 September 1812; also spelled ''Anschel'') was a German-Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild family, Rothschild banking dynasty. Referred to as a "founding father of international fin ...

, the children of the Rothschild family were obliged to enter into matrimony with their first and second cousins. Anselm Salomon did so in 1826 by marrying Charlotte Nathan Rothschild (1807–1859), daughter of his uncle

Nathan Mayer Rothschild Nathan Mayer Rothschild (16 September 1777 – 28 July 1836), also known as Baron Nathan Mayer Rothschild, was a British-German banker, businessman and finance, financier. Born in Free City of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, he was the third of ...

(1777–1836) from the British branch of the family; together they had eight children: * Mayer Anselm Leon (1827–1828) * Caroline Julie Anselm (1830–1907), "Julie", married Adolph Carl von Rothschild (1823–1900), son of

Carl Mayer von Rothschild Carl Mayer Freiherr von Rothschild (24 April 1788 – 10 March 1855) was a Frankfurt-born banker in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the founder of the Neopolitan branch of the prominent Rothschild family. Life and career Born as Kalman Ma ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, lived at

Rothschild Castle Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

Pregny-Chambésy Pregny-Chambésy is a commune in the canton of Geneva in Switzerland. It is located directly north of the city of Geneva, on the south-western shore of Lake Geneva. A number of foreign permanent missions are located in Pregny-Chambésy due to i ...

near

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Mathilde Hannah von Rothschild Hannah Mathilde von Rothschild (5 March 1832 – 8 March 1924) was a German-Jewish baroness, composer and patron. Life and career Mathilde von Rothschild was born in Frankfurt, the second oldest daughter of Charlotte and Anselm von Rothschild, ...

(1832–1924), married ''Freiherr''

Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild (Yiddish: שמעון וואלף רוטשילט; May 16, 1828 – 25 January 1901) was a banker and financier of the House of Rothschild. Life and career Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild was the son of Baron Carl ...

(1828–1901), banker at Frankfurt * Sarah Luisa (1834–1924), married Baron

Raimondo Franchetti Baron Raimondo Franchetti has been the name of more than one Italian people, Italian Baron, of the noble Franchetti family. The Franchettis were an Italian Jewish family who, from the 18th century onwards, were one of the wealthiest families in t ...

(1829–1905), lived at

Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti is a palace in Venice, Italy, not far from the Ponte dell'Accademia and next to the Palazzo Barbaro on the Grand Canal of Venice. The palace was erected in 1565 by the patrician Marcello family, later passing to th ...

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

* Nathaniel Anselm (1836–1905), maecenas at

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

* Ferdinand James (1839–1898), moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, had

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

built from 1874 * Albert Salomon (1844–1911), took over the running of the family's Viennese bank * Alice Charlotte (1847–1922), lived at

Eythrope Eythrope (previously Ethorp) is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the south east of the main village of Waddesdon. It was bought in the 1870s by a branch of the Rothschild fam ...

, UK, near her brother Ferdinand, from whom she inherited Waddeson Manor, and later moved to

Grasse Grasse (; Provençal dialect, Provençal in classical norm or in Mistralian norm ; traditional ) is the only Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur Re ...

, France.

Life

In 1820 Anselm Salomon's father Salomon Mayer had established a bank company at Vienna, financing the building of the Austrian

Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway The Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway (; ; ) was a railway company during the time of the Austrian Empire. Its main line was intended to connect Vienna with the salt mines in Bochnia near Kraków. The name is still used today in referring to a ...

in the 1830s. He had been a confidant of Chancellor Prince

Klemens von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ( ; 15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich () or Prince Metternich, was a German statesman and diplomat in the service of the Austrian Empire. ...

and also a discreet lender of the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

and Hungarian nobility. Upon his death in 1855, his son and heir Anselm created the k.k. privilegierte Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe, which evolved to the largest bank of the

Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. Anselm himself gradually retired from the banking business in the 1860s and participated in the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway () is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, the former main seaport of Austria-Hungary, by railway for the first time. It now forms the Southern Railway in Austria and the Spi ...

company. He rejected the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

of 1866 and refused to accommodate any side with money. As a philanthropist, he founded the Vienna

Rothschild Hospital The Rothschild Hospital, named after its founder Baron Anselm von Rothschild, was the hospital of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde in Vienna, Austria. The hospital lasted from its opening in 1873 until its closure by the Nazis in 1943. After Wo ...

in 1869. He was also a prominent art collector,

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

, and an appointed member of the Austrian

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

from 1861. He died in Vienna. He began the art collection that his son Ferdinand bequeathed in 1898 to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

as the

Waddesdon Bequest In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum as the Waddesdon Bequest the contents from his New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor. This consisted of a wide-ranging collection of almost 300 ''objets d'art et de vert ...

, collecting mostly metalwork, especially of the Northern Renaissance. The

Holy Thorn Reliquary The Holy Thorn Reliquary was probably created in the 1390s in Paris for John, Duke of Berry, to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The reliquary was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1898 by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Waddesd ...

was one of his purchases. His collection was catalogued and partly photographed by the art historian Franz Schestag in 1866 and 1872.F. Schestag, ''Katalog der Kunstsammlung des Freiherrn Anselm von Rothschild in Wien'' (Vienna, 1866 & 1872) Waddesdon Manor, acc. no. 167 Retrieved 11 January 2016
/ref>

References

Sources

* ''The Rothschilds; a Family Portrait'' by

Frederic Morton Frederic Morton (October 5, 1924 – April 20, 2015) was an Austrian-born American writer. Life Born Fritz Mandelbaum in Vienna, Morton was the son of a blacksmith who specialized in forging (manufacturing) imperial medals. In the wake of the ...

Atheneum Publishers Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since it acquired Macmillan in 1994, and it created Atheneum B ...

(1962) (1998 reprint) * ''The Rothschilds, a Family of Fortune'' by

Virginia Cowles Harriet Virginia Spencer Cowles (August 24, 1910 – September 17, 1983) was an American journalist, biographer, and travel writer. During her long career, Cowles went from covering fashion, to covering the Spanish Civil War, the turbulent pe ...

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

(1973) * ''Rothschild: The Wealth and Power of a Dynasty'' by Derek Wilson. Scribner, London (1988) * ''House of Rothschild : Money's Prophets: 1798-1848'' by

Niall Ferguson Sir Niall Campbell Ferguson, ( ; born 18 April 1964)Biography
Niall Ferguson

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

(1998) * ''The House of Rothschild (vol. 2) : The World's Banker: 1849-1999'' by Niall Ferguson.

Diane Publishing Co. Diane may refer to: People *Diane (given name) Film * ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film * ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner * ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo * ''D ...

(1999) * Thornton, Dora (2015), ''A Rothschild Renaissance: The Waddesdon Bequest'', 2015, British Museum Press,

External links

*
The Rothschild Archive
- an international center in London for research into the history of the

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Anselm von 1803 births 1874 deaths Businesspeople from the Austrian Empire Bankers from Austria-Hungary Philanthropists from Vienna Austrian Jews Anselm Austrian art collectors