Berlé, Marcus

Banker

born: ca. 14.10.1804 in Wiesbaden

died: 06.05.1881 in Wiesbaden

There is evidence of a Jewish Berlé family in Wiesbaden since 1760, when Berle Isaac applied for a residence permit. Marcus Berlé received permission to set up as a master glazier in Wiesbaden in 1827.

He opened a mirror, glass and porcelain store in Webergasse in 1829. In 1829 he married Henriette Goldschmidt from Frankfurt. She brought a dowry into the marriage, which enabled Berlé to turn his business into a banking house. Tourism and the casino made the bank the largest in Wiesbaden, and the Duke of Nassau also used it for transactions. Berlé was instrumental in the construction of the Taunus Railway from Frankfurt to Wiesbaden in 1840.

In 1856, the Berlé banking house became the leaseholder of the Wiesbaden casino. The bankers obtained the sovereign's permission to found an "anonymous public limited company to operate the spa establishment in Wiesbaden and Ems". The stock corporation developed into a source of money for the city treasury. Berlé was appointed Privy Councillor of Commerce by the Duke. His efforts led to the construction of the synagogue on Michelsberg, completed in 1869.

After the closure of the casino in 1872, the nature of the banking business changed. Berlé therefore founded the "Kommanditgesellschaft Marcus Berlé & Cie." together with the Deutsche Vereinsbank in Frankfurt in 1873. The company moved into a new building at ➞ Wilhelmstrasse 38 in 1879.

Berlé took on honorary positions in the city and set up various foundations. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery at Schöne Aussicht. The company was continued by his son Ferdinand Berlé (1835-1905), who had the extension built, the entrance area of which today forms the beginning of the Wilhelm Arcade. Ferdinand Berlé converted to Christianity and was buried in the ➞ North Cemetery.