Joseph Süß Oppenheimer

Joseph Süß Oppenheimer
Born1698 or 1699
DiedFebruary 4, 1738(1738-02-04) (aged 39)
OccupationCourt Jew

Joseph Süß Oppenheimer (c.1698 – February 4, 1738) was a German banker who was court Jew for Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, managing several of his enterprises. Throughout his career, Oppenheimer made scores of powerful enemies, some of whom conspired to bring about his arrest and execution after Charles Alexander's death.

In the centuries since his execution, Oppenheimer's rise and fall have been treated in two notable literary works, and his ordeal inspired two films, including the antisemitic production Jud Süß, released in Nazi Germany in 1940, itself the cause for a famous postwar trial.