capital of the Hamburgische Wissenschaftliche Stiftung, a charity dedicated to spend its interest for the benefit of a precursor of the University of Hamburg. In his will he set up the Beit Trust through which he bequeathed large sums of money (£1,200,000) for infrastructure development in the former Northern and Southern Rhodesia, later modified to university education and research in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Significant infrastructure projects financed by the Trust include the Birchenough Bridge in the former Southern Rhodesia, named after Sir Henry Birchenough, chairman of the Beit Trust from 1931 until 1937 and whose ashes are buried beneath the structure of the bridge. Ralph Freeman, the bridge's designer, was also the structural designer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and consequently the two bridges bear a close resemblance, although Birchenough is only two-thirds as long as the Australian bridge. It was built by Dorman Long and completed in 1935. At a length of 1,080 feet (329 m) it was the third longest single-arch suspension bridge in the world at the time. In recognition of his bequests the Royal School of Mines, a faculty of Imperial College London, erected a large memorial to Beit flanking the entrance to its building. The Imperial College residential halls on Prince Consort Road was named Beit Hall after him. See also Sir Otto Beit, 1st Bt (1865–1930), his brother Sir Alfred Beit, 2nd Bt (1903–1994), his nephew References Further reading online 19th-century German Jews Businesspeople from Hamburg German businesspeople South African mining businesspeople Randlords English art collectors German art collectors 19th-century art collectors 20th-century art collectors South African art collectors Beitbridge Beitbridge District 1853 births 1906 deaths British mining businesspeople 19th-century South African businesspeople De Beers people 19th-century English businesspeople