ABSTRACT
Perception of the risks connected to a new financial centre is a multi-layered process whereby bankers select a limited amount of information as being significant and interpret it to compile a meaningful image. Arnold founded a banking house in Augsburg, which collapsed in the crisis of 1837/1838. Through the crisis-ridden time before and after the July revolution in France, the Saint-Simonian programme proved most attractive to the offspring of the Paris business elite, particularly so in banking circles. Once Gustave d’Eichthal was there, Adolphe d’Eichthal suggested, then Simon should obtain a request from the Bavarian regency to the French foreign minister de Broglie asking that Gustave be included in the French legation in Athens. Gustave read around the subject and sent both the Bavarian regency and his brother and friends suggestions concerning the choice and organisation of colonists from England, France and Germany. D’Eichthal regarded the absence of a feudal system and religious freedom as brilliant conditions for attracting colonists.
