Salomon Mayer Rothschild

Salomon Mayer Rothschild was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1774. He was one of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild and Gutle Schnapper. His brothers established Rothschild banking houses in London, Paris, Naples and Frankfurt, while Salomon became responsible for expanding the family's business into Austria.

In 1820–1821, Salomon moved to Vienna and established the banking house S. M. von Rothschild. His close relationship with Austrian statesman Prince Klemens von Metternich helped him obtain important government-financing opportunities.

He financed major infrastructure projects, most notably the Kaiser Ferdinand's Northern Railway, the first major steam railway on the European continent, and acquired the Witkowitz iron works in Moravia.

Salomon Mayer Rothschild was born on 9 September 1774 in Frankfurt. He was the second-oldest of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who had established the foundations of the family's financial business in Frankfurt.

In 1810, Salomon and his brothers Amschel and Carl formally joined their father in the family partnership, Mayer Amschel Rothschild & Sons. Nathan was already developing the London business, while the youngest brother, James, was still too young to join the partnership.

Salomon increasingly concentrated on Austria. He had already been handling Rothschild interests connected with Austria, and after negotiations began for a major Austrian government loan in 1820, his presence in Vienna became particularly important. He subsequently established the family's permanent banking operation there.

His relationship with Prince Metternich, Austria's influential foreign minister, was particularly significant. Through government loans and other financial transactions, Salomon's bank became an important participant in Austrian public finance and economic development.

Salomon's activities eventually extended beyond banking into railways, mining and heavy industry. His financing of the Kaiser Ferdinand Northern Railway connected Rothschild finance with the industrial transformation of the Habsburg Empire.

He died in Paris on 28 July 1855. His son Anselm Salomon von Rothschild succeeded him in directing the Vienna banking house.

Salomon grew up in Frankfurt's Judengasse, the Jewish quarter where the Rothschild family lived and conducted business.

His father, Mayer Amschel, began with coin dealing and gradually developed into a successful financial agent for European princes. Salomon therefore grew up surrounded by commercial and financial activity.

As a young man, he worked alongside his father and brothers and became increasingly involved in the family's international business.

The Rothschild family emphasized cooperation between the brothers, with each brother eventually responsible for developing the business in a different European financial centre. Salomon's area became Austria.

Parents

Father: Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812)
Mother: Gutle Schnapper Rothschild (1753–1849)

Mayer Amschel was the founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty.

Brothers

Salomon was one of five brothers:

Amschel Mayer Rothschild — Frankfurt
Salomon Mayer Rothschild — Vienna
Nathan Mayer Rothschild — London
Carl Mayer Rothschild — Naples
James Mayer de Rothschild — Paris

This division created a network connecting several major European financial centres.

Marriage

Salomon married Caroline Stern on 26 November 1800. They had several children, most importantly Anselm Salomon von Rothschild, who succeeded him in the Vienna banking business.

There is limited reliable documentation about Salomon's formal schooling.

Like his brothers, his most important education was practical commercial training within the family business.

He learned about:

Banking
Government finance
International trade
Currency exchange
Government bonds
Credit
Negotiation
International correspondence

His career suggests that his financial education came largely through direct experience working with his father and brothers and conducting business across European courts.

Early career

Salomon initially worked in the family business in Frankfurt.

In 1810, he became a formal partner in Mayer Amschel Rothschild & Sons alongside his brothers Amschel and Carl.

Expansion into Austria

Salomon had developed relationships with Austrian officials before permanently moving to Vienna.

In 1820, negotiations began for a large Austrian government loan. The complexity of the transaction required a Rothschild representative to be based in Vienna, and Salomon took on that responsibility.

He established S. M. von Rothschild, which became the family's principal Austrian banking house.

Relationship with Metternich

Salomon developed a close professional relationship with Prince Klemens von Metternich, the Austrian statesman who played a major role in European diplomacy after the Napoleonic Wars.

This relationship helped the Rothschild family secure a significant position in Austrian government finance.

Ennoblement

Salomon's diplomatic and financial work contributed to the Rothschild family's elevation within the Austrian Empire.

He became von Rothschild in 1817, and the five Rothschild brothers were collectively ennobled by the Austrian Emperor in 1822.

Banking

Salomon's principal business was S. M. von Rothschild, the banking house he established in Vienna.

The bank became an important financier of the Austrian state and major commercial enterprises.

Government finance

He participated in major government-loan transactions and became an important financial intermediary for the Austrian Empire.

His relationship with Austrian political leaders helped the bank obtain major contracts and financial mandates.

Railways

One of Salomon's most important business achievements was financing the Kaiser Ferdinand's Northern Railway (Kaiser Ferdinands-Nordbahn).

The railway opened in 1839 and became a major part of the development of Austria's railway infrastructure.

Iron and steel

In 1843, Salomon purchased the Witkowitz iron works in Moravia.

This connected his banking interests with heavy industry and the growing industrial economy of Central Europe.

Property

Because Jewish residents faced restrictions on property ownership in Vienna, Salomon initially rented the Römischer Kaiser hotel, which became the base of his banking operation. Later, changes in his legal status enabled him to acquire property.

Family archives

Salomon also had a strong interest in preserving the family's history. In 1844, he created a catalogue of important family documents and records. The Rothschild Archive notes that his collection included documents relating to the family's origins and achievements.

Salomon's career unfolded during a period of major political and economic transformation.

After the Napoleonic Wars

Following Napoleon's defeat, European governments had to reorganize their finances and economies.

Salomon's arrival in Austria coincided with this period of reconstruction. His financial network enabled him to participate in government borrowing and investment.

Austrian Empire

Vienna was one of Europe's major political and cultural centres. Salomon's banking house became closely connected with the financial needs of the Habsburg Empire.

Industrial Revolution

The nineteenth century saw rapid development in:

Railways
Mining
Iron and steel
Manufacturing
International trade

Salomon's investment in the Northern Railway and Witkowitz iron works placed him directly within this industrial transformation.

Jewish emancipation

Salomon's career also occurred during a period when the legal position of Jews in Europe was changing.

Initially, Jewish people faced significant restrictions on property ownership and citizenship in parts of the Habsburg Empire. The Rothschild family's eventual ennoblement represented an important change in Salomon's social and legal position.

The Rothschild Archive records that Salomon received honorary Austrian citizenship in 1843, described in its historical material as the first such privilege granted to a Jew.

Salomon married Caroline Stern in 1800.

Their son Anselm Salomon von Rothschild (1803–1874) later succeeded him as head of the Vienna Rothschild bank. The family's Vienna branch continued under subsequent generations.

Salomon spent much of his professional life travelling between Frankfurt, Vienna and other European centres. The Rothschild Archive describes him as the most widely travelled of the five brothers, with surviving correspondence from his wife Caroline commenting on his frequent absences from home.

Following the revolutionary period of 1848, Salomon increasingly settled in Paris, where he died on 28 July 1855. His wife Caroline had died the previous year.

Salomon Mayer von Rothschild was the founder of the Austrian branch of the Rothschild banking family. He transformed the family's presence in Austria through government finance, railway development and industrial investment. His close relationship with Austrian political leaders, particularly Metternich, helped establish the Rothschilds as an important financial family within the Habsburg Empire. His Vienna bank continued under his descendants until the family was forced to leave Vienna and the business was dismantled under Nazi rule in 1938.