You will look for the Rothschild family in vain on the Forbes rich list, as the wealth is divided among several heirs. The exact amount they own is unknown, but is rumored to be between $350 billion and $1 trillion. Today, family members live all over the world and some of them have nothing to do with the family business, banking. So what is the history of this family that has so much money it can't be counted?
What is the history of one the richest families in the world, whose money simply cannot be counted?
The Rothschild family in the 18th and 19th centuries
The first generation of the family lived in the house they owned plate with golden eagle and red shield. In German it is a red plate rot shield and from here, we could conclude, also the surname.
It was in the 18th century Amschel Mayer Rothschild founded a bank in Germany and handed it over to his five sons. The young men were very resourceful and turned one bank into five banks, which were dispersed to different parts of Europe. The banks cooperated with each other, but the brothers never quarreled.
The Rothschilds also founded own courier company, which provided information about what was happening around the world. They used pigeons, which were really useful, as the company was among the first to be notified of new developments. If necessary, couriers also spread rumours. For example, this happened during the war with Napoleon in 1815. The agents allegedly learned that England would win the war, so they sent a pigeon to the Rothschilds. The Rothschilds instructed their stockbrokers to sell the shares at slightly discounted prices. People got the feeling that England was losing and started selling their stocks at really low prices. The Rothschilds are like that bought up all their stocks and increased their wealth in just one day.
In the 19th century, the family had their laws, which each family member had to follow. Among other things, it was held that a woman has no right to manage money. Only men had this right.
In most cases, they had to report within the family, with his cousins and cousins, so that the wealth of the family would profit. As a result, the number of ancestors was truncated. The average person has 2 parents, 4 grandparents, etc. Lionel Walter Rothschild, for example, had only one grandfather and one grandmother.
It is the end of the 19th century the family controlled almost half the world: during the Russo-Japanese War they are financed the Japanese, they filed in construction of a railway line across Europe, they financed construction of the Suez Canal, etc. Thus, the surname Rothschild became synonymous with wealth.
There is a story, perhaps even a myth, that testifies to the powerful influence that family had. According to the diary of one of the family members, it should Queen Victoria of Britain visited the family. During one of these visits, Baroness Alice Rothschild is said to have ordered the Queen not to walk on the grass, and the queen should respectfully obey her.
Theirs are also impressive moral principles. In 1861, the Russian government asked the family for a monetary loan, but it was not granted. This loan was supposed to help Russia suppress the uprisings in Poland. The Rothschilds had plenty of money, but they did not want to support the government, which suppresses freedoms.
The Rothschilds in the 20th century
The biggest collector there was a Ferdinand in the family, and it was no secret. His wish was to donate all the things he collected to the British Museum. Those in charge at the museum took advantage of this: eventually they ordered him to buy all the things that they could not afford themselves, knowing that after death it would all be their property.
He also had his hobby Walter Rothschild. He was collecting butterflies and thus housed around 2.25 million species. But he had another hobby: he organized expeditions to the most remote corners of the world. Thanks to his adventurous spirit, new species of animals were discovered - a species of butterfly was named after him Ornithoptera rothschildi, a Rothschild giraffe and a bird Leucopsar rothschildi.
During World War II, German soldiers arrested one of the Rothschilds and offered him a deal: he would earn his freedom by donated a steel factory and a certain sum of money. Rothschild agreed, but demanded payment for it. The bargaining process was long and in the end the Germans accepted the baron's demands. Rothschild was released, but the deal was never fulfilled. After a few days, the Germans occupied the area where the factory was located, so they did not have to pay for it.
The Rothschilds in the 21st century
The family owns wineries all over the world. She is the most famous among them Château Lafite Rothschild in France. One of their Israeli wines features a portrait of Baron Edmond James de Rothschild.
French President Emmanuel Macron started his career in one of the Rothschild companies and was so good at his job that he was given a nickname "Financial Mozart".
There is a Rothschild archive in Cambridge where it is looked after Emma Rothschild. Among others is Emma the youngest person ever to be admitted to study at Oxford University. When she became a student, she was 15 years old.
One of the descendants of the family, David Rothschild, leads the organization Adventure Ecology. His desire is to save the planet. In 2006, he organized an expedition to the Arctic, where he studied ice. In 2007, he traveled to the forests of Ecuador, where he tried to protect them from pollution and deforestation. In 2010, he created a vessel from 12.5 thousand tons of plastic bottles and crossed half of the Tiha Ocena with this vessel.
