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Gerson von Bleichröder (22 December 1822 – 18 February 1893) was a Jewish German banker. Bleichröder was born in Berlin. He was the eldest son of Samuel Bleichröder, who founded the banking firm of S. Bleichröder in 1803 in Berlin. Gerson first joined the family business in 1839.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire'' (Vintage Books: New York, 1977) p. 9.〕 In 1855 upon the death of his father, Gerson became the head of the banking firm.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck ' Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire'', p. 9.〕 The bank maintained close contacts with the Rothschild family; the banking house of Bleichröder acted as a branch office in Berlin of the Rothschilds' bank. Traditionally, the Rothschilds represented the banking interests of the Austrian-controlled German Confederation in Europe.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire'', p. 15.〕 In the conflict between the rapidly rising and expanding nation of Prussia and the "pro-Austrian" German Confederation, the Rothschild Bank was largely caught in an uncomfortable position in the middle of the conflict.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichroder and the Building of the German Empire'', p. 15.〕 ==Meeting Bismarck== Since 1851, Otto Bismarck had been serving as Prussian ambassador to the German Confederation headquartered in Frankfurt-am Main in western Germany.〔Jonathan Steinberg, ''Bismarck: A Life'' (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011) p. 110.〕 However, in March 1858, Bismarck was appointed ambassador to the Russian Empire.〔Jonathan Steinberg, ''Bismarck: A Life'', p. 146.〕 In one of his last actions before leaving Frankfurt for St. Petersburg, Russia, Bismarck consulted Baron Carl Mayer von Rothschild for the name of a banker in Berlin to whom he could turn for personal as well as Prussian state business.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire'', p. 17.〕 Just why Bismarck would turn to the Rothschild Bank to supply him with the name of a competing bank to whom Bismarck and the Prussian nation could turn may not be as hard to understand as first thought. Everyone in Frankfort knew that the Prussian nation would have to distance themselves from the Rothschild Bank given the Rothschilds' close diplomatic relations with Prussia's main rival—Austria. Yet neither Bismarck nor the Prussian nation wanted to burn their bridges and totally alienate the Rothschilds.〔Fritz Stern, ''Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder and the Building of the German Empire'', p. 17.〕 What better way to avoid this fissure with the Rothschilds than to ask the Rothschilds to provide the name of an alternative bank. Meyer Carl Rothschild provided Bismarck with the name of Gerson Bleichröder. Bleichröder was concerned with the private banking transactions of Otto von Bismarck and with the transfer of credits and/or placing of loans on behalf of the Prussian state and the German Empire. Thus, Bleichröder became intimately involved with not only Otto von Bismarck but also with the inner dynamics of the unification of Germany. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gerson von Bleichröder」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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