Samuel Oppenheimer

Who was Samuel Oppenheimer?

Samuel Oppenheimer was a Jewish banker, imperial court diplomat, factor, and military supplier for the Holy Roman Emperor. He enjoyed special favor of Emperor Leopold I, to whom he advanced considerable sums of money for the Great Turkish War. Prince Eugene of Savoy brought him a large number of valuable Hebrew manuscripts from Turkey, which became the nucleus of the famous David Oppenheimer Library, now part of the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

Although the Jews had been recently expelled from Vienna in 1670, the emperor permitted Oppenheimer to settle there, together with his "Gesinde", his followers, who included a number of Jewish families. He even received the privilege of building a mansion in the heart of Vienna. He was appointed "Oberfaktor" and court Jew at the recommendation of Margrave Ludwig of Baden, the imperial general in Hungary, to whom he had advanced 100,000 gulden for war expenses. He also enabled Prince Eugene to provide medical attendance for the army during the Turkish war. About the year 1700, a riot broke out, possibly sanctioned by the royal court, to persuade Oppenheimer to relieve the court's debt. During the riot, houses were sacked and property looted, including Oppenheimer's. As a result, one man was hanged for sacking Oppenheimer's house and others were imprisoned for participating in the disturbance.