"Does a Rothschild live there?" he asked.
"No; there is no male descendant of Mayer Anselm Rothschild living now in Frankfort; nor is there now a Rothschild banking house."
"Was Mayer Anselm always rich?" asked Fritz.
"No. He came of poor Jewish parentage, and lived in his childhood in a poor little dwelling in a narrow street, but by his honesty and strict integrity he became the founder of a banking house known over the world, and his five sons, Anselm, Solomon, Nathan, Charles and James, became heads of great banking houses in different cities."
"Then the father was born in Frankfort?" remarked Paul.
"Yes. Mayer Anselm Rothschild was born in Frankfort in the year 1743, and died here in 1812."
"Then he was six years older than Goethe," commented Paul.
"Yes, they were great men in their different lines, and were contemporaries; that is, they lived at the same time."
"But it must have been tiresome to stay in a bank and count money," remarked Franz. "I would rather be a forester and live in the woods. My father says that healthy blood and sound limbs are better than money."
"Yes, but a rich man can live where he chooses," quoth Fritz. "If Mayer Rothschild wished to live in the woods, he could have done so. Couldn't he, Uncle Braun?"