Issachar Berend Lehmann

Issachar Berend Lehmann, born in Essen, was a Court Jew of Saxony. He was instrumental for crowning of elector of Saxony Augustus II the Strong as the King of Poland. Lehmann was entrusted with the financial aspect of elector’s undertaking. He sold off various Saxon holdings to gather the sum estimated between two and five million gulden needed to bribe the vacillating Polish electors and to ensure Augustus’ election. His mission was successful ad Augusts was crowned as the King of Poland on 15 September 1697. the same year Lehmann was nominated Polish resident in Brandenburg with his seat in Halberstadt, where he chose to reside as Prussian “Schutzjude”, a Jew under the special protection of the head of the state.

Lehmann continued to work as financier to the rulers of Hanover and Brunswick, with all of his transactions in five and six figure sums. He was also a large-scale purveyor of jewels to the court, as well as a purveyor of precious metals to the mint and military contractor.

Lehmann supported his coreligionists in various ways: in 1696 he obtained king’s permission to have the Talmud printed in Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, entirely at his expense; the cities of Halle and Magdeburg were opened to Jews due to his intercession with the King of Prussia; the synagogues of Berlin and Halberstadt were built with the aid of his loans; and in 1715 the city and villages of Lissa (Leszno), Poland, came into his possession for ten years, during which time the Jewish community enjoyed his benevolence.