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Louis was arrested on March 13, 1938, within hours of Hitler's arrival in Vienna.

Reason: Ostensibly for being a prominent Jew and head of Austria’s largest private bank, Creditanstalt. In reality, he was targeted because of his wealth and influence.

Location: He was imprisoned in Vienna’s Hotel Metropole, which the Gestapo used as headquarters, and later in Gestapo prisons under harsh conditions.

The Ransom
The Nazis used Louis’s arrest as leverage to extract enormous wealth from the Rothschilds.

He was held for over a year, during which time extensive negotiations were conducted between the Nazi regime and members of the international Rothschild family.

Ransom Amount: Estimates vary, but the sum paid for his release was approximately $21 million USD (equivalent to over $400 million today).

The payment was essentially state-sanctioned extortion, with the Nazis demanding not just personal ransom but also control over family assets, including:

Creditanstalt bank (Austria’s largest)

Palaces, estates, and art collections

Industrial holdings and shares in Austrian businesses

Release and Exile (1939)
Baron Louis was finally released in May 1939.

After his release, he fled Austria—first to Switzerland, then to the United States.

He never returned to live in Austria, and he refused to speak German publicly again.

Confiscated Property
The Nazis seized nearly all of his Austrian property, including:

The family’s Vienna palace

Extensive art and cultural collections

Rothschild industrial holdings