Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 28. Chapters: Albert Salomon von Rothschild, Anselm von Rothschild, Bernhard von Eskeles, Camillo Castiglioni, Felix Rohatyn, Felix Somary, Francis Martin Drexel, Genealogy of the Rothschild family, Goût Rothschild, Hans Fischböck, Menahem Mendel Auerbach, Rudolf Ferscha, Salomon Mayer von Rothschild, Sonja Kohn. Excerpt: The Rothschild family ( , German: , French: , Italian: ), known as the House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a European banking dynasty, of German-Jewish origin, that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century. Five lines of the Austrian branch of the family have been elevated to Austrian nobility, being given hereditary baronies of the Habsburg Empire by Emperor Francis II in 1816. Another line, of the British branch of the family, was elevated to British nobility at the request of Queen Victoria. During the 1800s, when it was at its height, the family is believed to have possessed by far the largest private fortune in the world as well as by far the largest fortune in modern world history. The family's wealth is believed to have subsequently declined, as it was divided amongst hundreds of descendants. Today, Rothschild businesses are on a far smaller scale than they were throughout the 19th century, although they encompass a diverse range of fields, including: mining, banks, energy, mixed farming, wine, and charities. The first member of the family who was known to use the name "Rothschild" was Izaak Elchanan Rothschild, born in 1577. The name means "Red Shield" in old German. The family's ascent to international prominence began in 1744, with the birth of Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was the son of Amschel Moses Rothschild, (born circa 1710), a money changer who had traded with the Prince of Hesse. Born in the ghetto (called "Judengasse" or Jewish-alley) of Frankfurt, Mayer developed a finance house and spread his empire by installing each of his five sons in the five main European financial centres to conduct business. The Rothschild coat of arms contains a clenched fist with five arrows symbolizing the five dynasties established by the five sons of Mayer Rothschild, in a reference to Psalm 127: "Like arrows in the hands of a warrior". The family motto appears below the shi