The Austrian branch of the Rothschild financial empire was led by Salomon Mayer Rothschild (1774–1855), who moved to Vienna in 1816, where he was soon on very friendly terms with Metternich (during the 1848 Revolution he was accused of helping Metternich to escape) and was thus able to ignore or overcome the various discriminations to which Jews were subjected in Vienna and Austria (since a Jew was not allowed to purchase a house, he rented a whole hotel); in addition he had to contend with the rivalry of the established banking houses, foremost of which were the Arnstein and Eskeles firms. In 1822 he was ennobled. He was soon participating in the floating of government bonds. His main achievement was building Austria's first railroad and establishing the Oesterreichische Kreditanstalt, with which his descendants were closely connected and which later became Austria's state bank.