It is doubtful that the kingdom of Belgium could have been successfully created without financial backing from the Rothschilds of London. Their closest Belgian equivalent has been Jonathan-Raphael Bischoffsheim (born 1808 in Mainz, Germany), whose permanent willingness to help the Belgian state secure the necessary loans made him a close confident of the Belgian court. (His castle presently houses the International School of Brussels.) "Bisch" (as king Leopold I nicknamed him) created Belgium's National Bank (and was it first president) as well as played a decisive role in establishing the Caisse Generale d'Epargne et de Retraite (CGER or, by its Dutch acronym, ASLK) and the Credit Communal/Gemeentekrediet, Belgium's two largest (state-owned) banks. Apart from that, and his many philantropic activities, he was an active (Liberal) member of Parliament, and as such was influential in the development of the public education network.
Casa Robino
Shared Hospitality Excavations
