- Source: Speyer family
The Speyer family is a prominent Jewish family of 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 family originates from Speyer in Palatinate, hence the surname. In the late eighteenth century, the Speyers were the wealthiest Jewish family in Frankfurt, well above the Rothschild family.
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.
In 1837 Lazard Joseph's brother Philipp left Frankfurt am Main for New York City 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. Early to realize the potential in North America, the Speyer family was one of the top five issuers of United States 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 left the United Kingdom for the United States. The Frankfurt branch, Lazard Speyer-Ellissen, was dissolved in 1934, shortly after the Machtergreifung, the coming into power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. The Frankfurt family home, the prominent Villa Speyer, was taken away by the National Socialists 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.
References
Further reading
Birmingham, Stephen (1996). Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0815604114.
Liebmann, George W. The Fall of the House of Speyer: The Story of a Banking Dynasty (I.B. Tauris, 2015) xii + 244 pp. ISBN 978-1-78453-176-8. online review
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