Melchior, Carl
MELCHIOR, CARL
MELCHIOR, CARL (1871–1933), German banker. Melchior, who was born in Hamburg, studied law and later became a judge there. In 1900 he was appointed legal counsel to the bank M.M. Warburg and Co. and in 1917 became a partner in the bank. During World War i, he served as a captain in the German Army and was badly wounded. After his recuperation, he worked for the German government's Zentraleinkaufsgesellschaft (zeg), which was charged during the war with importing foodstuffs. Melchior always considered himself a patriot. From 1918 to 1919, together with Max M. Warburg, he took part as a German delegate in the financial and economic negotiations following the armistice. Melchior subsequently played a prominent role in the lengthy negotiations which eventually paved the way for Germany's reacceptance into the community of nations and displayed a mastery of financial and legal issues, diplomatic tact, and attention to detail. As a Jew he was afraid to arouse antisemitism by holding official positions, so he tried to act more in the background. At the international conference in Spa in 1920 as an expert for the German government, together with Walther *Rathenau and Moritz Julius *Bonn Melchior created the "policy of fulfillment" as a strategy of how Germany should pay its reparations. After Germany's admission to the League of Nations, Melchior became the only German member of the League's finance committee and in 1928–29 its chairman. In 1929 he was one of the German delegates discussing the revision of the Dawes Plan, under which German reparation payments were scheduled. He also served as a member of the board of the Bank for International Settlements in Basle and in other political or economic functions concerning international financial affairs. In the early 1930s he hoped that integrating the nsdap, which he detested, into the government would placate the Nazis. After the Nazis took power in 1933, he lost his positions on several company boards. Melchior became active in the preparation for the formation of the *Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden. In November 1933 he died.
bibliography:
Carl Melchior, Ein Buch des Gedenkens und der Freundschaft (1967). add. bibliography: J.M. Keynes, Two Memoirs: Dr. Melchior: A Defeated Enemy and My Early Beliefs (1949), German translation: Freund und Feind (2004); Verein fuer Hamburgische Geschichte (ed.), E. Rosenbaum et al., Das Bankhaus M.M. Warburg & Co. 1798–1938 (1976); S. Philipson, Von Versailles nach Jerusalem: Dr. Carl Melchior und sein Werk (1985).
[Joachim O. Ronall /
Christian Schoelzel (2nd ed.)]