An exhibition running until June 5 at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna traces its history and tries to understand why it continues to spark so many wild rumors.

"It was a family from the Jewish ghetto in Frankfurt. It all started with a small coin dealer who sent each of his five sons to European cities, including Vienna" in 1821, explains commissioner Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz .

"Their rapid success inspires cartoonists", continues his colleague Tom Juncker.

They then become "the face of the emerging banking industry".

After the abolition of censorship in 1848, the drawings gradually approach the theme of an "alleged world Jewish conspiracy which has in fact continued until the present day".

"They have been named as the culprits, instead of attributing to the speculative mechanisms of capitalism the responsibility for certain failures of the system", relates Mr. Juncker.

The front page of the newspaper "Der Stürmer" of May 1938 during the exhibition "Rothschild, a Viennese thriller" at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna, April 28, 2000 Alex HALADA AFP

A 19th century lithograph depicts the founder Mayer Amschel Rothschild, for example, with a strong overweight and a hooked nose, manipulating the ruling classes like juggling balls.

"A code"

After 1945 and the genocide of the Jews in Europe, openly showing his anti-Semitism being sanctioned by law, the name of Rothschild then became "a code", "a generic name" to blame the omnipotence of the elites.

“Especially now, in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, it is again very current: we always find Rothschild there”, underlines Tom Juncker, in front of a large screen reproducing in the exhibition conspiratorial messages broadcast on social networks.

The portrait of Anselm von Rothschild by Czech painter Karel Klic during the exhibition "Rothschild, a Viennese thriller" at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna, April 28, 2022 Alex HALADA AFP

In the fall of 2020, publications shared thousands of times on Facebook, screaming "Covid scam", claimed that a certain Richard Rothschild had filed a patent for a virus screening test as early as 2015.

However, this man has no connection with Rothschild & Co, as confirmed at the time by a spokesperson to AFP.

In addition, if the patent, which describes techniques for analyzing biometric data, does exist, the part devoted to Covid was added during an update procedure in September 2020.

Nevertheless, users around the world have seen it as proof that the family knew before ordinary mortals what throes the world would soon be thrown into.

“Someone here realized very early on that there was money to be made with a disease” which would spread four years later, for example commented on a user on Facebook.

In other cases, a member of the dynasty appears posing in a luxurious setting in front of one of his paintings representing a diabolical creature devouring babies.

The curators of the exhibition "Rothschild, a Viennese thriller", Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz (g) and Tom Juncker in front of propaganda posters against the Rothschild family, at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna, April 28, 2022 ALEX HALADA AFP

False again: the original photo does not show the same painting, according to research by an AFP digital investigation team.

Forgotten legacy

Far from being responsible for all Western ills, the Rothschilds have on the contrary had a decisive contribution to Europe thanks to "their very modern management", notes Ms. Kohlbauer-Fritz.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was then plagued by recurring financial difficulties and Salomon Rothschild (1774-1855) very quickly became indispensable to the monarchy, even being ennobled, without giving in to assimilation and denying his Jewishness.

The painting by Salomon Mayer von Rothschild by German painter Eduard von Heuss during the exhibition "Rothschild, a Viennese thriller" at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna, April 28, 2022 Alex HALADA AFP

The Credit-Anstalt bank, a state-of-the-art hospital, a major foundation, sumptuous palaces, a train station, a garden... almost everything he and his lineage built in Vienna before the annexation of Austria by Adolf Hitler disappeared today.

“The Nazis took practically everything,” laments the curator of the exhibition entitled “Rothschild in Vienna, a thriller”.

The Viennese branch emigrated to the United States and its descendants never returned.

“Even after the war, they were treated indecently” by forcing them to give up many of their properties, which were then demolished to make way for modern buildings, recounts Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz, who had to play a game track to find traces of this forgotten heritage.

It was not until 2016 that a Rothschild Square was inaugurated in Vienna.

The poster for the exhibition "Rothschild, a Viennese thriller" at the Museum of Judaism in Vienna, April 28, 2022 ALEX HALADA AFP

The Naples line closed in 1863 following the unification of Italy, which relegated the city to the background.

But the family saga continues to be written today from London, Paris and New York where hospitals, banks and investment funds make the brand exist in the public space.

© 2022 AFP