The Goldschmidt family was descended from Mosche Goldschmidt and his wife Bela. They settled in the Goldener Schwan in 1521. Like other families, such as the Buchsbaums and Cahns, they migrated from Nuremberg, following the expulsion of the Jews there in 1498.
The founder of the family, Mosche, probably got his name from working as a goldsmith (unlike Frankfurt, the Nuremberg of the day offered Jews the opportunty to learn a craft). A member of the Goldschmidt family, Joseph from the Pfau, subsequently carried on the trade of honeycake baker in Frankfurt.
For over a century, the Goldener Schwan remained the family home. Descendants, however, moved out into other houses in the Judengasse, and many branches of the family can be identified.
The most famous Goldschmidt of all was Josef at the Goldener Schwan, one of the most important financiers of the 16th century. The family continued to produce prominent businessmen in later years. One of Josef's nephews, Mosche Goldschmidt of the Korb, was one of the richest inhabitants of the Judengasse around the year 1600. The family's many descendants formed the two wellknown family branches, the Goldschmidt-Hameln and Goldschmidt-Kassel.