Alfred Paul Ernst Freiherr von Oppenheim (May 5, 1934 – January 5, 2005), known in America as Alfred Oppenheim, was a German billionaire and banker. Born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, Oppenheim was a descendant of Salomon Oppenheim, Jr., who founded the Credit Institute in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and moved to Cologne in 1798. He studied at Amherst and Harvard until 1960. In 1964, he became a senior partner of Sal. Oppenheim, and in 1978 he took over leadership of the board. From 1993 he was a member of the shareholders' committee and the governing body of the bank. Oppenheim was also vice-president of the German Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry ( Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag) and president of the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He also served as president of the German Council on Foreign Relations

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. He founded the Alfred Freiherr von Oppenheim Foundation for Scientific Research. On 14 October 2004 he was awarded the

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Decoration of Honour. He was a fellow of the University of Cologne, holder of the Federal Cross of Merit First Class of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2003, he was awarded the Croix de Commandeur from the French Legion of Honour for encouraging and deepening political and cultural ties between Germany and France. In 1962 he married his wife Jeanne von Oppenheim, with whom he had three children, Victoria, Alexandra, and Christopher. Oppenheim and his wife owned one of the largest private collections of world photography and donated it to an American Museum. Oppenheim died in January 2005 following a short but serious illness.

References

*Most of the text of this article comes from the equivalent German Wikipedia article, which cites the following references: *
Press release from Sal. Oppenheim & Cie. on the occasion of von Oppenheim's 70th birthday
**
Obituary Alfred Baron von Oppenheim released by Sal. Oppenheim & Cie.
:''This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppenheim, Alfred Freiherr von 1934 births 2005 deaths German bankers Amherst College alumni Harvard University alumni Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States

See also

References