Letter written in Judendeutsch. The Rothschild Archive is home to a collection of over 20,000 letters sent by the five Rothschild brothers from London, Vienna, Paris, Naples, and Frankfurt between 1806 and 1868.
Business letters between the five Rothschild brothers
The sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) travelled throughout Europe in pursuit of the family business, and they wrote daily to one another, keeping each other informed of the business of the day, the market opportunities and prices, or just family gossip. This letter, written by Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777-1836), founder of the London house to a Manchester merchant house in July 1806 discusses the textile trade.
Judendeutsch (words in German and written in Hebrew), was the language used by German and Eastern European Jews until the middle of the nineteenth century. It is the language of the Frankfurt Jewsih ghetto, where the Rothschild family lived, and in which the brothers were educated. The use of this script provided a convenient means of protecting their letters from prying eyes, for although not in itself a code, the comparative rarity of understanding of the script meant that the letters could not easily be deciphered.
“Be careful with letters here because people are curious to know whether we have any secrets.” Carl Rothschild to his brothers Salomon and Nathan, written from Berlin, 10 December 1816
