Sir Edgar & Lady Leonora Speyer circa 1921

The Speyer family is a prominent

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 ...

family of

German descent , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. It can be traced back to Michael Isaac Speyer (1644–1692), who had briefly been the head of the Jewish community in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1691–92. The family originates from

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

in Palatinate, hence the surname. In the late eighteenth century, the Speyers were the wealthiest Jewish family in Frankfurt, well above the

Rothschild family 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 ...

Business activities

The patriarch of the family, Joseph Lazard Speyer, took over the ''Ellissen'' bank, inherited from his wife Jette Ellissen, and renamed it to ''J. L. Speyer-Elissen'' in 1818. When their son, Lazard Joseph, got to the helm of the family business in 1838, the name was changed to

Lazard Speyer-Ellissen The Speyer family is a prominent Ashkenazi Jews, Jewish family of Germans, German descent. It can be traced back to Michael Isaac Speyer (1644–1692), who had briefly been the head of the Jewish community in Frankfurt am Main in 1691–92. The f ...

. In 1837 Lazard Joseph's brother Philipp left Frankfurt am Main for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and established there in 1845 Philipp Speyer & Co. (after Philipp´s death in 1876 renamed Speyer & Co.). His brother Gustav (1825–1883) joined him to set up Philipp Speyer & Co. but in 1861 Gustav formed Speyer Brothers 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 ...

. Early to realize the potential in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, the Speyer family was one of the top five issuers of

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 ...

and Mexican railroad securities by the 1870s, their nearest rivals being Kuhn, Loeb & Co. and J.P. Morgan & Co. The London branch of the Speyer business, Speyer Brothers, was liquidated in 1922, when Gustav´s son

Edgar Speyer Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (7 September 1862 – 16 February 1932) was an American-born financier and philanthropist. Barker 2004. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of the Speyer fami ...

left the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for the United States. The Frankfurt branch, Lazard Speyer-Ellissen, was dissolved in 1934, shortly after the ''

Machtergreifung Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

'', the coming into power of the

National Socialist German Workers' Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. The Frankfurt family home, the prominent Villa Speyer, was taken away by the

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

s in 1938. In 1938, James Speyer retired and decided to close Speyer & Co. in New York rather than let his name continue with the remaining partners. Therefore, the last of the three Speyer banking branches was liquidated in 1939. The Speyer family belonged to Frankfurt’s patrons and made considerable foundations to support science and scientific education. Their funds provided the basis for the

University of Frankfurt am Main Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

Family tree

*Joseph Lazard Speyer (1783–1846), married to Jette Ellissen **Lazard Joseph Speyer (1810–1876), married his cousin Therese Ellissen (1808-?) in 1832 *** (1835–1902), banker, married (1844-1909) in 1869 **** Alfred Julius Speyer (1871–1927) *** Jaques Robert Speyer (1837-1876), married Sophie Emilie Cassel (1843-?) **

Philipp Speyer Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864� ...

(1815–1876), emigrated to the

in 1837 and established in 1845 the New York branch, Philipp Speyer & Co. (1876 renamed Speyer & Co.). Married in 1850 Charlotte Stern (1824-1906), daughter of

Jacob Samuel Hayum Stern Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...

(1780-1833), the founder of the Bank

Jacob S.H. Stern Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Jacob in Islam, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel (name), Israel, is regarded as a Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religi ...

. ***Helene Therese Speyer (1857–1898), married Paul Meyer (1844–1925), a German railway manager *** Anna Emilie Speyer (1861–1940), married 1885 (1856–1931), member of the

Vorstand In German corporate governance, a ''Vorstand'' is the executive board of a corporation (public limited company). It is hierarchically subordinate to the supervisory board (''Aufsichtsrat''), as German company law imposes a two-tier board of direc ...

of the

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 ...

** Gustav Speyer (1825–1883), followed his brother to the US, joined Speyer & Co. in 1845 and set up Speyer Brothers 1861 in

***

James Speyer James Joseph Speyer (July 22, 1861 – October 31, 1941) was an American banker based in the city of New York. Speyer was a well-known figure on Wall Street and the firm of Speyer & Co. was well respected. It closed in 1939. Speyer was actively i ...

(1861–1941), senior partner at Speyer & Co. since 1899, married to Ellin Lowery (1849–1921) ***

(1862–1932), moved to London in 1887, married to Leonora von Stosch (1872–1956) *** Hanna Louise Speyer (called Lucie, 1870–1918), married 1892 Eduard Beit von Speyer (nobled in 1910, 1860–1933), cousin of

Alfred Beit Alfred Beit (15 February 1853 – 16 July 1906) was a Anglo-German gold and diamond magnate in South Africa, and a major donor and profiteer of infrastructure development on the African continent. He also donated much money to university edu ...

(1853–1906) **** Herbert Beit von Speyer (1899–1961) **** Erwin Eduard von Speyer (1893–1914) **** Hedwig Johanna Henriette von Speyer (1896–1966) ****

Ellin Anna von Speyer Ellin may refer to: *Abby Ellin, American author and journalist *Doug Ellin (born 1968), American screenwriter and director *Everett Ellin (1928-2011), American museum official, art dealer, engineer, lawyer, and talent agent *Percy Ellin (1884-1959 ...

(1903–1983)

Business activities

Family tree

References

Further reading