著者

竹原 有吾

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.52, no.3, pp.3-25, 2017 (Released:2019-12-30)

---

Jewish entrepreneurs made a great contribution to the development of the Prussian silk industry in the 18th century, and their contribution led to the possibility of building a secular “state community” in Prussia. The silk industry, which originated in Asia, was not seen in Prussia until the late 17th century. After the Thirty Years’ War, the government of Brandenburg-Prussia tried to promote various industries. The government, at first, used Huguenot immigrants from France to promote the silk industry, as they had been producing silk in France. Most of them, however, soon gave up silk manufacturing, because they lacked both money and knowledge of the Prussian market. On the other hand, David Hirsch, a Schutzjude (protected Jew), is the first merchant to have success in silk manufacturing in Prussia. Because Hirsch did not have any Christian business rivals in Prussia, he could begin producing silk there in 1730, using international markets and foreign artisans for his business.The number of Christian and Jewish merchants working in silk manufacturing increased during the reign of Frederick the Great. Jews were not excluded from the Prussian silk industry because they worked for both Jewish and Christian profits. In 1752 Jewish merchants were forced by the Prussian government to sell a fixed amount of silk produced in Christian factories. Furthermore, according to data found in the journal of Jewish silk manufacturer and eminent philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, he bought raw silk from abroad and sold it to both Christian and Jewish manufacturers.Because Jews generally could not join Zünften (associations of artisans) in medieval cities in Europe, it was very hard for Jews to work as artisans or manufacturers in late medieval times. By the 18th century, however, both Jews and Christians worked for the development of manufacturing, which led to the beginnings of a secular community in Prussia.

著者

竹原 有吾

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.50, no.1, pp.27-49, 2015 (Released:2018-01-23)

---

Historical changes in the social relationship between Jews and Christians are an important factor behind the formation of large-scale businesses by religious minority entrepreneurs. Jews in Berlin were politically emancipated in 1869. But they were opposed by anti-Semitic campaigns after the end of the 1870s, and strived to assimilate culturally.Emil Rathenau, a Jewish entrepreneur in Berlin, was able to found the first telephone office in Berlin in 1881, and the forerunner of AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft), Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität in 1883, thanks to political emancipation. These businesses received most of their capital and executives from Jewish private banks. They were, therefore, managed by Jewish interests. The Jewish bankers on their own, however, could not afford to cover the expanding financial risks which were necessary to make Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität into a company large enough to accommodate the growing demand for electricity in the latter part of the 1880s. They had to find banks which could afford to share their company's financial risk.AEG was established in 1887 as a company managed by civil interests. The Jewish executives decided to get funds from the credit banks in Berlin, which required that they appoint executives of those banks as executives of AEG. The credit banks which invested in AEG were, in particular, found at the initiative of Ältesten der Kaufmannschaft von Berlin and were funded by both Jewish and Christian capital. These banks were, therefore, managed by civil interests.This paper shows that large-scale business-building was the primary factor behind Jewish acceptance of the representation of civil interests. This expanding of business was part of the process of Jewish assimilation.

著者

竹原 有吾

出版者

社会経済史学会 ; 1931-

雑誌

社会経済史学 = Socio-economic history (ISSN:00380113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.82, no.3, pp.273-291, 2016

著者

竹原 有吾

出版者

社会経済史学会

雑誌

社会経済史学 (ISSN:00380113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.82, no.3, pp.273-291, 2016