He was born in the Imperial City of Frankfurt, the son of Freiherr Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774–1855), ancestor of the family's Austrian branch, and his wife Caroline Stern (1782–1854).

He had a younger sister Betty (1805–1874), who married her French uncle James Mayer de Rothschild.

He had been a confidant of Chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich and also a discreet lender of the Bohemian and Hungarian nobility.

privilegierte Österreichische Credit-Anstalt für Handel und Gewerbe, which evolved to the largest bank of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

Anselm himself gradually retired from the banking business in the 1860s and participated in the Austrian Southern Railway company.