Moritz von Bethmann
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image:Moritz von bethmann.jpg, Moritz von Bethmann as seen by a caricaturist.The picture was accompanied by a verse,

''Moritz Herr von Bethmann heißt er,''
''dem Vater gleicht er von Gesicht;''
''doch im übrigen beweist er,''
''der alte Bethmann ist er nicht.''

(von Bethmann, Moritz is his name,
his likeness and his father's are the same;
in every other known respect
old Bethmann he does not reflect.)
Philipp Heinrich Moritz Alexander von Bethmann (from 1854:
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
von Bethmann), born 8 October 1811 in Frankfurt am Main, died 2 December 1877 in Frankfurt am Main, was a German banker.


Life

The oldest son of Simon Moritz von Bethmann (1768–1826) and ''Louise Friederike née Boode'' was only 15 years old when his father died. In 1833 he became the head of the ''Gebrüder Bethmann'' bank. Von Bethmann focused especially on railway construction. Together with the
House of Rothschild The Rothschild family ( , ) is a wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish family originally from Frankfurt that rose to prominence with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), a court factor to the German Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel in the Free City of F ...
, he established three railroad companies in succession:
Taunus-Eisenbahn The Taunus Railway (German: ''Taunus-Eisenbahn'') is a double-track electrified railway line, which connects Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, Germany. It is 41.2 km long and follows the course of the Main on its north side, running quite close to ...
AG in 1836, Frankfurt-Hanauer Eisenbahn in 1844, and the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn. In the 1850s he also invested in (among others) the Italian central railroad company, the Austrian state-controlled railroad company, and the Rhein-Nahe-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. From 1854 until the loss of Frankfurt's status as a Free City in 1866, von Bethmann was the Prussian consul general in Frankfurt. In 1854 he was elevated to the status of a
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
in the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...
. In 1863 he hosted the assembly of German princes in his garden house. Like his father before him, he generously contributed to philanthropic causes and to the arts in Frankfurt. Von Bethmann, who had to cope with a lifelong handicap due to a hip impediment, was married to ''Maria née
Freiin (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
von Bose'' (1819–1882), with whom he had two sons and three daughters, among them ''Ludwig Simon Moritz Freiherr von Bethmann'', who was named after his grandfather ''Simon Moritz'' and who would later take the reins as the head of the House of Bethmann.


Notes


See also

*
Bethmann family The Bethmann family (; ) has been remarkable for the high proportion of its male members who succeeded at mercantile or financial endeavors. This family trait began in medieval northern Germany and continued with the Bethmann bank, which Johann P ...


Bibliography

* Wolfgang Klötzer (ed.): ''Frankfurter Biographie''. Vol. 1 A-L, Frankfurt am Main, Verlag Waldemar Kramer, 1994, {{DEFAULTSORT:Bethmann, Moritz von 1811 births 1877 deaths German bankers
Moritz Moritz is the German equivalent of the name Maurice. It may refer to: People Given name * Saint Maurice, also called Saint Moritz, the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century * Prince Moritz of Hesse (2007), the son of ...