Abraham Drach

Abraham Drach lived in the mid17th century. He was the most prominent member of the Drach family, one of the richest and most respected Frankfurt Jewish families. Isidor Kracauer, the chronicler of the Frankfurt Jews, described him as follows: "His breadth of vision, his commercial talent and ability to make best use of favourable times, his skill in handling people and issues, and not least his punctilious honesty with its absolute rejection of any unfair profit gained him the absolute confidence of high and low alike in both Jewish and Christian society. His name was highly valued on the Amsterdam and Hamburg exchanges and at the courts of many neighbouring princes whose financial needs he supplied as their court factor."
Drach was frequently given important commissions by the Jewish community and was elected to its highest offices as "master builder" and treasurer. He was appointed plenipotentiary on behalf of the Frankfurt Jews in important negotiations at the imperial court in Vienna. Despite his services to the community, his influential position was no uncontested. A group of Frankfurt Jews led by Isaak Kann fought a vigorous political battle against him for years, known as the Drach-Kann disputes.