Frederick Keinszig is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 appearing in The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III

The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American gangster film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize his criminal empire...

. He was portrayed by Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n actor Helmut Berger

Helmut Berger

Helmut Berger is an Austrian-born German film and television actor. He is most famous for his work with Luchino Visconti, particularly in his performance as King Ludwig II of Bavaria in Ludwig, for which he received a special David di Donatello award.He appears primarily in European cinema, but...

.

In the film

Nicknamed "God's Banker," Keinszig is the Swiss chief accountant of the Vatican Bank

Vatican Bank

The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...

. As such, he represents the Vatican

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 on the board of International Immobiliare, a European real estate company in which the Church has a quarter interest and is transferred to the control of Michael Corleone

Michael Corleone

Michael Corleone is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novels, The Godfather and The Sicilian. He is also the main character of the Godfather film trilogy that was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which he was portrayed by Al Pacino, who was twice nominated for an Academy Award for his...

. However, he is also part of a large conspiracy

Cabal

A cabal is a group of people united in some close design together, usually to promote their private views and/or interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue...

 with Don Licio Lucchesi

Licio Lucchesi

Licio Lucchesi, often referred to simply as Don Lucchesi, is a fictional character in The Godfather Part III, in which he is, along with Don Altobello, one of the two chief antagonists...

 and Archbishop Gilday

Archbishop Gilday

Archbishop Gilday is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in The Godfather Part III. He is portrayed by Donal Donnelly. His character is said to have been based on Paul Marcinkus....

 to scam Michael out of hundreds of millions of dollars and give it to persons holding positions of political power. The three accomplished this by constantly stalling the conclusion of the Immobiliare deal and harping on the ill health of Pope Paul VI

Pope Paul VI

Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

, as the Pontiff's personal approval is necessary to finalize the transfer of the company to Corleone control.

After the Pope's death, Cardinal Lamberto

Cardinal Lamberto

Cardinal Lamberto is a fictional character appearing in The Godfather Part III. He is portrayed by Raf Vallone.-In the film:Lamberto is a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and the man favoured to succeed the terminally ill Pope Paul VI as head of the Church...

 is elected the new Pontiff (he takes the name John Paul I) and promptly requests a meeting with Keinszig to discuss reform of the Vatican Bank. However, Keinszig mysteriously departs Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, along with a large amount of money and several important documents. After Michael's nephew Vincent Mancini-Corleone

Vincent Mancini-Corleone

Vincent Santino Corleone is a fictional character in the 1990 feature film The Godfather Part III, in which he is portrayed by Andy García, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance...

 becomes the new Godfather, he orders the deaths of Keinszig, Lucchesi, and the Archbishop in revenge for swindling his uncle. Accordingly, Vincent's dispatched assassin penetrates Keinszig's house and smothers him with a pillow. His corpse is subsequently hanged from a bridge, in full view of the public.

Inspirations

The character of Frederick Keinszig is loosely based on Roberto Calvi

Roberto Calvi

Roberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...

, the head of the Vatican-controlled Banco Ambrosiano

Banco Ambrosiano

Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...

, which spectacularly collapsed in 1982, causing a large scandal in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.