Ludwig Bamberger (22 July 1823 – 14 March 1899) was a

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

and writer.

Early life

Bamberger was born into the wealthy

Ashkenazi Jew Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

ish Bamberger family in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. After studying at

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, and

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

, he became a lawyer.

Career

When the

revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

broke out Bamberger took an active part as one of the leaders of the republican party in his native city, both as a popular orator and as editor of the ''Mainzer Zeitung'' newspaper. In 1849 he took part in the republican uprising in the Palatinate and

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

; on the restoration of order he was condemned to death, but by then with other leading revolutionaries like Germain Metternich,

Louis Blenker Louis Blenker (July 31, 1812 – October 31, 1863) was a German revolutionary and American soldier. Life in Germany He was born at Worms, Germany. After being trained as a goldsmith by an uncle in Kreuznach, he was sent to a polytechnical s ...

, and

Franz Zitz Dr. Franz Heinrich Zitz (November 18, 1803 in Mainz – April 30, 1877) was a prominent Mainz attorney and enjoyed much success with women due to his comeliness. He was a restless and at times dissolute man. On June 3, 1837, he married the w ...

he had escaped 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 ...

. The next years he spent in exile, at first in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, then in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; in 1852 he went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where, by means of private connections to the

Bischoffsheim family The Bischoffsheim family is a family of German-Belgian Jewish descent known for their success in banking. It can be traced back to Raphaël Nathan Bischoffsheim, an army contractor native of Tauberbischofsheim, in the Electorate of Mainz. The fami ...

, he received an appointment in the bank of Bischoffsheim, Goldschmidt & Cie, of which he became managing director, a post which he held till 1866. During these years he saved a competence and gained a thorough acquaintance with the theory and practice of finance. This he put to account when the amnesty of 1866 enabled him to return to

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 ...

. He was elected a member of the '' Reichstag'', where he joined the National Liberal Party, for, like many other exiles, he was willing to accept the results of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

’s work. Bamberger represented the electoral district of Bingen-

Alzey Alzey () is a ''Verband''-free town – one belonging to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fifth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, Germany, Worms, Ingelheim am Rhein ...

and married Anna Belmont, a relative of the famous banker

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was ...

, who had emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1868 he published a short life of Bismarck in French, with the object of producing a better understanding of German affairs, and in 1870, owing to their intimate acquaintance with France and with finance, he and

Gerson Bleichröder Gerson may refer to: Given name: *Gerson von Bleichröder (1822–1893), Jewish German banker * Gérson Caçapa (born 1967), Brazilian former footballer *Gerson Goldhaber (1924–2010), German-born American particle physicist and astrophysicist * G ...

were summoned by Bismarck to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

to help in the discussion of terms of peace. In the German ''Reichstag'' he was the leading authority on matters of finance and economics, as well as a clear and persuasive speaker, and it was chiefly owing to him that a gold currency was adopted and that the

Reichsbank The ''Reichsbank'' (; 'Bank of the Reich, Bank of the Realm') was the central bank of the German Reich from 1876 until 1945. History until 1933 The Reichsbank was founded on 1 January 1876, shortly after the establishment of the German Empi ...

took form; in his later years he wrote and spoke strongly against

bimetallism Bimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange betwee ...

. He was the leader of the

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

rs, and after 1878 refused to follow Bismarck in his new policy of protection, state socialism and colonial development. On account of his opposition to Bismarck's economic policy, he left the National Liberal Party and joined the “ Secessionists” which later merged into the

German Free-minded Party The German Free-minded Party (german: Deutsche Freisinnige Partei, DFP) or German Radical Party was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire, founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal ...

. He was also a founder of the Verein zur Förderung der Handelsfreiheit (Group for the Promotion of Free Trade). With private banker Adelbert Delbrück, on 22 January 1870, he founded

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 ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

as a specialist bank for foreign trade. In 1892 he retired from political life and died in 1899.

Writings

Bamberger was a clear and attractive writer and was a frequent contributor on political and economic questions to the ''Nation'' and other periodicals. Among his noted publications—which include works on the currency, on the French war indemnity, his criticism of socialism and his apology for the

Secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

—are: * ''Erlebnisse aus der pfälzischen Erhebung'' (Experiences from the Palatine Uprising, 1849) * ''Monsieur de Bismarck'' (Herr von Bismarck, 1868; English translation, 1869) * "La colonie allemande" (in ''Paris Guide'', 1868; English translation "Germans in Paris" 2016) * ''Die fünf Milliarden'' (The five billion, 1873) * ''Deutschland und der Sozialismus'' (Germany and Socialism, 1878) * ''Deutschtum und Judentum'' (Germans and Jews, 1880) * ''Die Stichworte der Silberleute besprochen'' (Terminology of the silver advocates explained, 4th ed., 1893) * ''Erinnerungen'' (Reminiscences, published by Nathan, 1899).

References

* * * * Benedikt Koehler: ''Ludwig Bamberger,'' DVA, 1999

External links

''Erinnerungen'' "Memoirs" by Ludwig Bamberger at google BooksCatalogue
of the papers of Ludwig Bamberger a
Guide to the Ludwig Bamberger Collection
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

Early life

Career

Writings

See also

References

External links