The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1897-10-08
THE ROTHsCHILDS.
THE FINANCIAL REPRESENTATIVES
OF NATIONS AND MoNARcHs.

tial Banking House In the World Was
Laid-The Judengasse at Frankfort and
the Position of the jews.
The city of Frankfort owes it's impor-
lance to the Jews and chiefly to the Roths-
child family. 1t is one of the finest cities
in Europe and is the richest city in the
world for its population, although of late
Berlin has taken considerable business
away and has become the center of inter-
national banking relations. There are
still ia banks in Frankfort to popula-
ton of 23S, 900, which is one bank to every
/, 300 persons. Some of the banks have a
capital of 20, 600, 600 or &c. 900, 600 marks.
Several have over 50,0O0,000 marks. In
situations like the Rothschilds havea cap
itai that is practically unlimited. No one
knows the amount.
The Jews have obtained all this wealth
and prominence in spite of ostracism, per-
secution and restrictions of many kinds.
When Anselm Rothschild was born in
Frankfort, what was known as the Juden-
gasse was separated from the rest of the
city by high walls and heavy gates, which
were shut at nightfall and kept closed I'M
til suhTlse On Sundays they were never
opened. Goethe, who was a native of
Frankfort, gives a graphic description of
the Judengasse, with its filth and squalor
and stenches, to which the nerves of it's
inhabitants had been deadened by long ia
miliarity with the noisome atmosphere.
The walls of the .Judengasse were de-
stroyed by Kleber's army in 1896 In 1872
the whole district was condemned as a
nuisance by the sanitary authorities and
cleared out, except single row of old
fort,tr !, ial,1 nfn {fnG
tenth century and were the homes of the
ancestors of rich and influential citizens.
The ancestors of the Frankfort Jews
came from Palestine, Turkey and Spain to
escape persecution in the thirteenth, four
teenth and fifteenth centuries and became
The serfs of the emperor of Germany, who
accorded them protection in exchange for
fixed tribute which went into his private
purse. In 1349 Charles ~, being pressed
for funds, mortgaged his Jews to the
municipality of Frankfort for ESQ, 900.
The sum was never repaid, and thus the
inhabitants Of the Judengasse passed IN
der the control of the city council, which
selected a swampy and unhealthful spot
on the margin of the town where they
were obliged to reside and exacted from
them a certain portion of their earnings
or sold their labor at so much month.
The Jews who controlled their own time
and talent paid dearly for that privilege,
but were shrewd enough to make profit
and advance themselves, slowly but surely.
They were not allowed to use the side
walk, but were compelled to travel with
cattle and carts in the middle of the street.
They were compelled to wear a distinctive
dress. Every male jew had a patch of
yellow cloth upon his breast and every
woman wore blue and white stripes. They
were allowed only one name.
The man who lived in so Judengasse,
which was known as 'the house of the
red shield because of a sign over its
door, was called Anselm.
The original Anselm was a dealer in old
coins and curiosities. He married and had
a boy who was called Mayer Anselm in
order to distinguish him from bis father.
He was sent to rabbi relative to be edu-
Gated, and afterward got a place in the
bank, where he developed remarkable
business talent When his father died, he
came home, took his house, his trade pros
pered, he became influential among his
race, gained the respect of Christians as
well as Jews, and was called Anselm of
the Red Shield, or Won Rothschild.
But his fame was only local until he
made the acquaintance of Baron Won
Estroff, then landgrave of Hesse, who
was a coin collector, and sent for Anselm
one day to make some purchases. When
the latter arrived, the baron was engaged
in game of chess and could not be dis
turbed. The jew stood and watched the
play. The baron was checked, it seemed,
hopelessly, and turning to the Jew he said:
DO you play chess9"
Sometimes, y was the answer.
What would you do if you were in my
fxY,
The Jew modestly pointed out move
which the baron accepted and followed his
advice through the rest of game that
was soon won. After that Anselm spent
good deal of time playing chess with the
landgraye, who prided himself on his abil
ity to beat every one of his subjects. The
baron and the coin merchant thus became
great friends, and there was considerable
business between them in the way of loans
and discounts. 1t was Baron Won Estroff
who sent 1G, 500 Hessian soldiers to Amer
lea during the war of the Revolution, to
fight on the British side, and received
large sum of money for their services.
When Napoleon came along few years
after, the baron had saved of it about
1000, 600 thalers in coin, which he took to
Anselm and asked him to conceal for him
so that it might escape the French army.
Anselm accepted the trust without respon-
sibility, and, as the story goes, dropped the
bags of coin to the bottom of his well.
The French soldiers took away everything
valuable that belonged to him, but the
landgrayes money was overlooked.
AS soon as the army had passed on and
he could do SO without being suspected
Anselm loaded the treasure on the hack of
donkey and started for England, where
he intrusted it to his son, Nathan, a young
man who had gone to London few years
before and was doing modest business in
shaving notes and in the commission way.
There the father and son quietly bought, a
little at a time, large blocks of English,
Austrian and German securities, which
were depressed by the war Anselm went
back to Frankfors and there speculated
with some of the money. 1t was nine
years before the landgrave returned. In
the meantime his money had quadrupled,
and Anselm Rothschild returned it to
him with interest ut per cent which of it.