Camillo Castiglioni
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Camillo Castiglioni (22 October 1879 – 18 December 1957) was an Italian-Austrian Jewish financier and banker, and was the wealthiest man in Central Europe during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Nicknamed "Austrian Stinnes", he was active in
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
's pioneering days and invested in the
arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
. Castiglioni was credited as being instrumental to the founding of what would eventually become BMW AG.


Early life

Castiglioni was born in
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
, then part of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, to the chief rabbi. His older brother was Arturo Castiglioni. It is not known when Camillo developed his interest in aviation, but it is known that he was passionate about flying. Camillo's education was primarily law, gaining employment as an attorney and legal officer of a bank in
Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, quickly learning international finance and how to manage capital. He was the son of a rubber maker, so naturally Camillo found work with the Austro-American ''Gummiwarenfabrik AG'' (rubber products) in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
as an agent for the Kaufmann automobile tire division in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
. Camillo found great success in this position, demonstrating his abilities to negotiate and structure financial deals. In fact, Camillo was so successful, he was promoted to director of the export department of the parent company in Vienna. Around 1901, along with Viktor Silberer and Franz Hinterstoissera Camillo helped to create the Viennese aero club (later Austrian aero club). He eventually was made deputy director, then in 1904 he was appointed to general director of the company. Through his experience in the rubber and tire production field, Camillo saw the birth of aviation as an industry, going from a ballooning hobby, to makeshift glider craft requiring tires, to fully operational aircraft operated by engines. He met many influential men in his business, and came to realize that aviation sparked not only his passion for flight, but also recognized the tremendous financial opportunity of aviation's potential as an industry. In order to draw from the arising enthusiasm for airplanes and ballooning, as well as to take advantage of the lucrative business the hobby generated, Camillo established one of his first companies, Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft, in 1907. Being a pure commercial firm – it acquired the Etrich balloon patents and sold balloon fliers in Austria Hungary. There were many contests that these inspired balloon drivers entered, and Camillo was no different- he bought his own balloon and successfully took his balloon driver examination on 24 August 1909.


Aviation financing

During the First World War, he became one of the richest and most influential financiers in Central Europe. The first major investor in the series production of aircraft. In 1914, he purchased the German aircraft company
Hansa- und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke (more usually just Hansa-Brandenburg) was a German aircraft manufacturing company that operated during World War I. It was created in May 1914 by the purchase of ''Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke'' by Cami ...
, which employed
Ernst Heinkel Dr. Ernst Heinkel (24 January 1888 – 30 January 1958) was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, '' Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' in Nazi Germany, and member of the Nazi party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, th ...
as its chief designer. Acquired a majority holding in
Austro-Daimler Austro-Daimler was an Austro-Hungarian automaker company, from 1899 until 1934. It was a subsidiary of the German ''Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft'' (DMG) until 1909. Early history In 1890, Eduard Bierenz was appointed as Austrian retailer. The com ...
with its chief designers
Puch Puch () is a manufacturing company located in Graz, Austria. The company was founded in 1899 by the industrialist Johann Puch and produced automobiles, bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. It was a subsidiary of the large Steyr-Daimler-Puch conglo ...
and
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
. Press "czar" and sponsor of the arts (financed
Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...
and helped him to organize the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
). After a series of setbacks, his financial empire broke up in 1926. He retired to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, then to
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
where he set up a private bank and once again amassed a considerable fortune. After the Second World War, negotiated a large US loan for his friend
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. When Tito refused to pay his commission, Castiglioni succeeded in getting Yugoslavian assets in Italy worth millions sequestered. In 1916, he was awarded the
Franz Joseph Order The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes ...
with ribbon on the
Military Service Cross A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
for his services to aviation and in 1918 with the St-Georges Order for his achievements in the war material production. Castiglioni became rich in ventures during the period of inflation, acquiring a majority interest in
Alpine Montan AG Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
. The Austrian aviation company Österreichische Luftfahrtsgesellschaft was founded by him.


BMW influence

Castiglioni significantly influenced the development of BMW AG in its early years. The granting of a license agreement by Austro-Daimler to the Rapp-Werke in 1917 was partly attributable to Castiglioni. 1918 At Castiglioni's insistence the
Wiener Bankverein The Wiener Bankverein or Bank-Verein (WBV, ) was a major bank in the Habsburg Monarchy and First Austrian Republic, founded in 1869. In 1888 it was the fourth-largest bank of Austria-Hungary by market capitalization, behind the Austro-Hungarian ...
acquired the majority of BMW's share capital. 1922 Castiglioni purchased all the equipment relating to engine construction, the associated know-how and the rights to the name "Bayerische Motoren Werke AG" from the BMW AG, which was renamed Süddeutsche Bremse AG. Castiglioni in turn renamed the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke to BMW AG and allowed the renamed company to continue production at the BFW plant. From the establishment of BMW AG until November 9, 1922 and then from 1924 to 1929, he was a member of the Supervisory Board and President of BMW AG. 1928 Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board. His was one of the voices that urged BMW in 1928 to purchase the Eisenach Automobilwerke. Due to financial difficulties in 1929 he was obliged to surrender his holding of BMW shares to a consortium of banks (
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
, Disconto, Bankhaus Hagen etc.). A consortium led by the Deutsche Bank and the Diskonto-Gesellschaft purchased the BMW shares previously held by Camillo Castiglioni, who was facing problems of liquidity.


Failed speculation and bankruptcy

In February 1924, Castiglioni partnered with Fritz Mannheimer, and later other influential bankers to speculate on the
devaluation In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curren ...
of the
French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
. They shorted hundreds of millions of franc, eventually causing the franc to drop almost 40% in less than a month. By the beginning of March 1924, one
United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...
was worth 28 francs. Then, however, investment bank
Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's lar ...
, on the behalf of
Banque de France The Bank of France ( French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the F ...
and powered by J.P. Morgan & Co., bought immense amounts of francs, causing the franc to rise again, to 15 franc per dollar. Castiglioni, Mannheimer and their partners lost millions. In September 1924, the Austrian Depositenbank, of which Castiglioni had been president, collapsed. A warrant for his arrest on a charge of fraud was issued, but Castiglioni had been taken care to be in Italy when the crash came. The Austrian State said that if he deposited $4,200,000 ($ in present-day value), he could return unmolested.


Philanthropy

Castiglioni built up a large art collection and a theatre in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. He was the richest man in Central Europe and much beloved by the Viennese whom he assisted financially on Sundays and odd occasions. He was also a patron of the arts and for some time supported the famed producer
Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he i ...
, for whom he built a theater. So fond was he of appearing in the public limelight that he lived with all the pomp and ceremony of royalty, even traveling in the Kaiser Karl's private parlor car, which he bought. Because of his famous banking activities, his life was documented in a 1988 movie on television titled '' Camillo Castiglioni oder die Moral der Haifische'' (in English: ''Camillo Castiglioni, or the morality of sharks''), directed by
Peter Patzak Peter Patzak (2 January 1945 – 11 March 2021) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He directed 60 films from 1973 to 2021. His film ''Kassbach – Ein Porträt'' was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival and his f ...
.


See also

* Fritz Mannheimer *
History of BMW The official founding date of the German motor vehicle manufacturer BMW is 7 March 1916, when an aircraft producer called ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' (formerly ''Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik'') was established. This company was renamed to ''Bayeri ...
* Palais Miller von Aichholz


References


External links


BMW Group archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castiglioni, Camillo Austro-Hungarian Jews Austrian bankers Italian bankers Italian Austro-Hungarians Businesspeople from Trieste 1879 births 1957 deaths Businesspeople from Vienna Austrian transportation businesspeople