Simon

Edler Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a ''Ritter'' (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle ''von'' before their surname. It was mostly given to ...

von Lämel (August 1766 – 18 April 1845) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

merchant who devoted his life to bettering the lives of his fellow Jews. He was born in Tuschkau (now

Město Touškov Město Touškov (; german: Tuschkau Stadt) is a town in Plzeň-North District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Repub ...

), near Pilsen,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. His father died early on, so Lämel quickly developed an interest in the

mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

business. By the age of twenty-one, he had his own wholesale warehouse in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. This soon became one of the nation's most important. Lämel was a great supporter of reforms. He encouraged improvements in sheep raising, and created new ways to card and manufacture their wool. During the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, he sought to help

in any way he could. He bought all the supplies from magazines captured by the French, and later all the captured artillery pieces as well. In all, he saved the empire over 3,000,000

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

. In 1809, he bought 450 tons of biscuits for the troops, declining any profits or commissions. On top of that, he loaned the government considerable sums of money, which culminated in 1809, with his lending the state his entire fortune to speed the withdrawal of French troops from

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 a result of his actions for his country, he asked to be allowed to buy a house in Vienna, but in March 1811 the emperor refused his permission. Later that year, however, Lämel was elevated to the hereditary

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

, which gave both him and his children the right to live in Vienna—where Jews were barely tolerated. In 1813, he was appointed commissary of the army by Field Marshal

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp, Fürst zu Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Austrian Generalissimo. He fought in the Battle of Wagram (1809) but the Austrians lost decisively against Napoleo ...

, which released him from having to quarter soldiers. Besides Austria,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

also benefited from Lämel's services. Several letters from the kings there describe their respect for him. His work was one of the causes of the end to the body-tax (''Leibzoll'') in that kingdom. His entire life, Lämel always tried to raise the living-conditions of his fellow Jews. In 1817, he succeeded in getting the Bohemian Jews' taxes reduced, and was told they would soon be completely abolished. Even so, he never tried to escape the taxation himself, even after he moved to Vienna. Shortly before his death, he tried to get the medieval

Jewish oath The Oath ''More Judaico'' or Jewish Oath was a special form of oath, rooted in antisemitism and accompanied by certain ceremonies and often intentionally humiliating, painful or dangerous, that Jews were required to take in European courts of law u ...

abolished. Lämel's daughter, Elise Herz, founded a school in the

Zikhron Moshe Zikhron Moshe ( he, זיכרון משה, lit. ''Memorial for Moses'') is a Haredi neighborhood in central Jerusalem. The neighborhood is bordered by Geula to the north, Mekor Baruch to the west, David Yellin Street to the south, and Mea Shearim to ...

neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in his memory, the Lämel School, supported by a foundation, the ''Simon Edler von Lämel's Stiftung''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lamel, Simon von Edlers of Austria German people of the Napoleonic Wars 1766 births 1845 deaths Austrian merchants Austrian people of Jewish descent People from Plzeň-North District 18th-century Austrian businesspeople 19th-century Austrian businesspeople