Simon von Lämel

Merchant and financier
Simon von Lämel was born at Tuschkau near Pilsen, Bohemia, on August 28, 1766. In 1787 he founded a wholesale firm in Prague and devoted himself to the wool industry, improving flocks and methods of wool processing. His firm soon ranked among the most important in the country.

During the Napoleonic Wars von Laemel rendered his country valuable services. In 1801 he purchased all the magazines containing salt, flour, and wheat which had been captured by the French, and in 1805 he bought all the artillery pieces taken by the enemy, thereby saving Austria more than 3,000,000 gulden. In 1809 he negotiated the purchase of 450 tons of biscuit for military provisions. Von Laemel further helped Austria by lending the government large sums of money.

In 1811 Von Laemel requested permission to purchase a house in Vienna, but the emperor declined to grant this petition. In the same year e was elevated to the hereditary nobility, and he and his children were given permission to reside in Vienna. In 1813 von Laemel became a commissioner to the army.

Von Laemel devoted his energy to improve the lives of is coreligionists. His endeavors contributed to the abolition of the body-tax (Leibzoll a special tax levied on Jews in Europe) in Saxony, and in 1817 he succeeded in having the taxes of the Bohemian Jews reduced. Von Laemel died at Vienna April 18, 1845.