coleman-the-rothschild-dynasty
coleman-the-rothschild-dynasty
coleman-the-rothschild-dynasty
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The Rothschild Dynasty 3<br />
type of foreign money-exchange since at that time Germany<br />
consisted of 350 principalities, each with its own currency.<br />
Apparently <strong>the</strong>y were forbidden to follow <strong>the</strong> professions open to<br />
all non-Jews in Frankfurt. There is no doubt that Jews were<br />
subject to all sorts of restrictions, some of which were ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
unjust. The family home was a mock-Gothic wooden hut where<br />
Mayer Amschel lived with his mo<strong>the</strong>r and fa<strong>the</strong>r and three<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>rs until 1775, when a massive epidemic of smallpox swept<br />
Europe, taking <strong>the</strong> lives of both of Mayer's parents. Mayer's<br />
relatives enrolled him in rabbinical school at Furth. But he did<br />
not have <strong>the</strong> patience or <strong>the</strong> liking for <strong>the</strong> long years of study<br />
needed to qualify, and after three years at Furth, at <strong>the</strong> age of<br />
thirteen, Mayer Amschel struck out on his own.<br />
One can only admire <strong>the</strong> courage it must have taken for<br />
one so young to take such a step. Proceeding to Hanover, <strong>the</strong><br />
young man was given a small, insignificant "charity" job at <strong>the</strong><br />
House of Oppenheimer's bank, where within six months of his<br />
arrival he was made an apprentice. It did not take him long to<br />
conclude that to succeed at banking, one needed <strong>the</strong> protection of<br />
one of <strong>the</strong> leading princes. After six years he left Hanover and<br />
went back to Frankfurt where he married Gudule Schnapper in<br />
1770.<br />
Mayer and Gudule (Gutta) occupied <strong>the</strong> first floor above<br />
a shop from where Mayer bought and sold new and used goods,<br />
as his fa<strong>the</strong>r had done before him. Many items, such as pictures<br />
and furniture, were displayed on <strong>the</strong> sidewalk. This was <strong>the</strong><br />
home, <strong>the</strong> starting place of <strong>the</strong> "barons of banking," who were to<br />
control <strong>the</strong> world's finances and great leaders, statesmen and<br />
kings. Gudule bore Mayer five sons. Discussions with his five<br />
sons were always around a "dirty wooden table," a description<br />
given by Spiridovich in Unrevealed in History, where <strong>the</strong> family<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>red for meals and talks.<br />
The distribution of <strong>the</strong> financial world among <strong>the</strong> sons<br />
was one of <strong>the</strong> favorite topics of discussion. Their fa<strong>the</strong>r