Carl Fürstenberg

Tombstone of Fürstenberg

Carl Fürstenberg (28 August 1850 – 9 February 1933) was one of the most prominent German bankers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and was responsible for the revival of the German mining industry during his era.

Biography

Fürstenberg was born on 28 August 1850 to Jewish parents in Danzig (Gdańsk). While working at a West Prussian textile mill throughout his childhood, he apprenticed under local banker R. Damme. At the age of seventeen, he moved to Berlin.

At first, Fürstenberg worked for the textile company of Gebr. Simon (Simon Bros.). Two years later, he became an employee at the Disconto-Gesellschaft, one of the leading German joint-stock banks. In 1871, he defected to aristocrat Gerson von Bleichröder's well-known S. Bleichröder Bank, working in the firm as a départemental manager. In 1883, he became first director of the joint-stock bank Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft (B. G.-H.) and dominated it during the next decades in a way, that the bank was often regarded as Fürstenberg's bank. In 1884 he was accepted into the Gesellschaft der Freunde society. Under Fürstenberg, the B. G.-H. became the house bank of Emil Rathenau's AEG. In 1902, Fürstenberg made Emil Rathenau's son, Walther Rathenau a co-director of the B. G.-H. which he remained until 1907.

Fuerstenberg was involved in the development of the diamond industry in German South West Africa (now Namibia). He also organized the construction of a railway line between Lüderitz Bay and Kubub.

In 1901, Fürstenberg received the Cross of Commander with Star of the Order of Franz Joseph.

Fürstenberg died in Berlin on 9 February 1933.

References

• Fürstenberg, Carl: Die Lebensgeschichte eines deutschen Bankiers 1870–1914, ed. by Hans Fürstenberg; Berlin: Ullstein 1931.
• Morrow, Ian F.D. (November 1931). "Front Wider Bulow: Staatsmanner, Diplomaten und Forscher zu seinen Denkwurdigkeiten Kaiser und Kabinettschef: Nach eigenen Aufzeichnungen und dem Briefwechsel des Wirklichen Geheimen Rats Rudolf von Valentini. Denkwurdigkeiten der Reichskanzlerzeit". International Affairs. 10 (6). Royal Institute of International Affairs: 834–837. doi:10.2307/3015859. JSTOR 3015859.

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Carl Fürstenberg in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW