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S. M. von Rothschild was abanking enterprise established in 1820 inVienna,Austrian Empire bySalomon Mayer Rothschild,[1] the founder of theRothschild banking family of Austria and a member of theMayer Amschel Rothschild family ofFrankfurt,Germany. The business prospered, financing various Austrian government undertakings where large amounts of capital had to be raised. The bank played a major role in the building of the country's economic infrastructure including the firstrail transport networks. Passed down to Salomon Mayer Rothschild's male heirs, the bank would be run byAnselm von Rothschild (President: 1848–1874),Albert Salomon von Rothschild (President: 1874–1911), andLouis Nathaniel von Rothschild (President: 1911–1939).
The 13 March 1938Anschluss of Austria toNazi Germany marked the forced end of the Rothschild's business in Austria. Because he wasJewish, Baron Louis von Rothschild, head of the bank at the time, was held in prison for a year and only released after a substantial ransom was paid by his family. After Baron Louis was stripped of his Austrian citizenship and allowed to leave the country empty-handed, in March 1939 the Nazis placed the firm of S M von Rothschild under compulsory administration and then sold it to the German private bankMerck, Finck & Co. in October of that year,[citation needed] and S.M.v Rothschild became E.v. Nicolai & Co. After theAllies occupied Austria, Louis Rothschild asserted a claim to recoverSüdosttextil Gesellschaft m.b.H., a company that had been founded by E.v. Nicolai & Co. on January 29, 1942.[2]
