Berlin-born Fanny von Arnstein married a financier to the Austro-Hungarian imperial court, and in 1798 her husband became the first unconverted Jew in Austria to be granted the title of baron. Soon Fanny hosted an ever more splendid salon which attracted the leading figures of her day, including Madame de Staël and Arthur Schopenhauer. Hilde Spiel's biography provides a vivid portrait of a brave and passionate woman, illuminating a central era in European cultural and social history."Von Arnstein represents one of the most fascinating and paradoxical eras in modern Jewish history … For an American Jewish reader, Fanny von Arnstein is fascinating above all as a cautionary tale — and a reminder of our luck at having avoided the excruciating choices that Fanny, and so many Jews like her, had to face."– Adam Kirsch, Tablet Magazine“This book is indispensable for those interested in the history of culture, the role of women, and the transition of the Jewish community out of the ghetto toward the center of European life.”– Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, author of Judentum und Modernität and co-editor of Vienna: Jews and the City of Music“In capturing the fascination of Fanny von Arnstein and her times, Hilde Spiel provides both a finely drawn portrait of a defining figure of her era, but also of the times themselves.”– John Kornblum, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany
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Hilde Spiel. Fanny von Arnstein: Daughter of the Enlightenment
Contents
Introduction
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. The Mildness of the Hohenzollerns
2. The Emperor’s Minions
3. Baptism or Tolerance
4. Joseph’s Decade
5. Enlightenment and Transition
6. The Third Solution
7. The High Priest’s Blessing
8. Desperate But Not Serious
9. Calm Before the Storm
10. Battlefield and Conference Table
11. The Father’s House
Bibliography. Fanny von Arnstein and her Family
Contemporaries and Other Personalities
Judaica
General History
Periodicals, Encyclopaedias, Archives, Documents and Registers
Index
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Introduction
Preface
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His first attempts to prove of service to the King did not work out too well. In 1752 Daniel first entered the coinage business, still as a middleman to Gompertz, who was supplying silver for the new mint at Stettin. Current coinage and small denominations were to be minted there, not only for Pomerania, but for the province of Prussia too. The commission was however carried out in defiance of instructions: more small coins than directed were brought into circulation, better coins already in circulation were melted down for re-use and in the end, contrary to the agreement, even the standard of coinage was debased. The King was dissatisfied, reproved the entrepreneurs and their “almost unrestrainable scheming and despicable behavior,” and gave orders to his agent Graumann “rather to conduct dealings with respectable Christian tradespeople.” But his trust in the latter proved misplaced. They either declined Graumann’s request that they should take over deliveries, or they delivered too little and at unacceptably high prices. And so, with the King’s tacit agreement, a year later Graumann went back to his Münzjuden, who knew how to indemnify themselves against the excessively low silver rate imposed upon them. In March 1754, even they were no longer able to take on the burden of the difficult commission with its low profit margin and gave up the business, upon which the Stettin mint finally had to be closed down.
This débâcle with which Daniel Itzig’s first dealings with the King were to end was due not only to the “scheming and despicable behavior” of the coinage entrepreneurs but also to the unrealistic terms imposed upon them. One thing is certain: as soon as he achieved equal rights in his partnership with Gompertz and in later associations, he gave no occasion for complaints, but was in the habit of carrying on his business reliably and enjoyed the highest possible approval. Frederick’s mistrust of him and his partner had been banished when, in 1755, they received from him responsibility for the six Prussian mints.
