Gerson von Bleichröder

Gerson's family name probably originated from Bleicherode, a town in the Prussian Harz region in the historical province of Saxony, east of present-day Göttingen, Germany. We know that Gerson's grandfather, Gerson Jacob, was born in the 1740s and as a young man went to Berlin, having received the right of residency there, since the Jewish community needed a gravedigger (the position also carried with it certain religious obligations). In Berlin, he married Suze Aaron, the daughter of a protected Jew (Schutzjude), which provided additional employment opportunities and was a significant achievement for upwardly mobile Gerson Jacob.

Gerson Jacob had four sons. His eldest son, Samuel Bleichröder, opened a currency exchange office (Wechselstube) in 1803 in a remote corner of Berlin, which would later grow into the banking firm of S. Bleichröder. In those early years, Berlin was an entrepôt between East and West and there was a demand for exchange services of the many principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. Business improved when the French occupied Berlin in 1806. Samuel's shop also sold lottery tickets for such funds as army widows and disabled soldiers. By the late 1820s, Samuel had progressed to merchant-banker status and had established initial contacts with the Rothschilds, the international banking house.

Bleichröder was born in Berlin. Gerson first joined the family business in 1839. In 1855 upon the death of his father, Gerson became the head of the banking firm. 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.

In the nineteenth century, the Rothschild banking house represented the interests of the Austrian-controlled German Confederation in Europe. In the conflict that developed between the rapidly expanding Kingdom of Prussia and the pro-Austrian German Confederation, the Rothschild Bank found itself largely caught in an uncomfortable middle position.