Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-17
THE OLD ROTHsCHILD HOUSE.
an Old Landmark az Frankfort that
il TO be Removed.

In the ambient city of Frankfort-on-
the Main an old relic of past time, the
celebrated Jews Lane, will soon disap-
pear, to make room for a broad street
with new and handsome buildings.
In the Middle Ages the Jews formed a
prominent element in the population of
Frankfort, but during the fourteenth
century they were the objects of bitter
persecution. Whole streets in which
they had their homes were burned, and
much blood was shed by their fanatlcal
enemies. About the middle of the fif&'
tenth century an edict was issued con-
fining the residences of the Jews tn a
certain portion of the city. and it was at
that time that the Jews Lane was built.
1t was provided at either end with heavy
gates, which were closed with bolts and
bars at nightfall, and on Sundays and
holidays. Any Jew caught in the city
streets while these gates were closed
was severely punished.
Twenty-Five years ago the appearance
of the Jews Lane was almost the same
as in olden time The ancient gates were
still to be seen, hanging rusted on their
hinges. The high topping houses, which
almost met over the narrow roadway,
were decorated with signs bearing un-
mistakable Jewish names, and with He
brew inscriptions, and from the carvings
over the doorways the Lion of Judah still
frOwned on inQuisitive intruders The
walls were black with the filth of ages,
and through the small window panes
peered ancient Jewish danes with wrin-
killed. faces in harmony with the general
decay of their surroundings. 1t was the
abode of all manner of strange OdOrs,
and along the open gutter in the middle
of the lane there flowed a sluggish cur
rent of Shiny water.
Some years since, one entire side of
the street was torn down, and the sum
light fell on the damp pavement for the
first time in centuries. The order has
now been given to tear away the other
side, and before many months the Jews
Lane will be thing of the past.
Several celebrated houses are among
those which will soon be destroyed. Over
the door of one of the most wretched
and diiapidated is small tablet marking
it as the birthplace of Ludwig Borne,
whose real family name was Baruch. He
was born in 1886. When young man
he was prosecuted by the government on
account of his liberalism, and fled to
Paris. where he lived for many years
pouring out his wrath against his native
land in a series of keen satires.
Another celebrated house, many stored
and cabled and ancient, which for years
has stood gaunt and grim with closed
shutters, is the birthplace of the Roths,
child brothers, who left the paternal roof
to become the great financiers of Europe.
To this house, his own birth place, Maier
Amschel ROthschild in 1910 brought
home Gudula Schnapper, his young wife.
Maier Amschel was himse smart bust
ness man. In the lower story of the old
house he carried on lively traffic in old
coins, jewelry and antiquities of all
kinds But the great fortune of the
family began in 1901, when, on the death
of the Landgrave William TX. Maier
AmSchel, who had been his banker, be
gan to operate on his own account with
the large sum of money lying in his
hands.
When in 1912 he lay on his death bed,
he summoned all his children, and after
eXhOrting them to live in brOtherly unity,
closed ais eyes forever. The brothers
were at that time established in the diff
ferent business centres of Europe, and
the chink of coin was no longer heard in
the old Office in Jews Lane. But the
widow refused to leave her humble
home. There the fortune of the family
had begun, and she firmly believed that
if she left the house the riches of her
sons would crumble to dust and disap-
pear. There she lived in the Jews Lane
through a widOwhood of many years.
and there she died in 1849, at the age of
ninety-six. Since that time the house
has remained closed and uninhabited,
and will soon become nothing but a
memory.