The Berenberg family ( Dutch for "bear mountain") was a Flemish-origined

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

family of

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

bankers A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

s in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, with branches in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

and other European cities. The family was descended from the brothers Hans and Paul Berenberg from

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, who came as Protestant refugees to the city-republic of Hamburg following the Fall of Antwerp in 1585 and who established what is now

Berenberg Bank Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft, KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a Multinational corporation, multinational full-service private bank, private and merchant bank headquartered in H ...

in Hamburg in 1590. The Berenbergs were originally cloth merchants and became involved in

merchant banking A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage, it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commod ...

in the 17th century. Having existed continuously since 1590, Berenberg Bank is the world's oldest surviving merchant bank. The Berenberg banking family became extinct in the male line with Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822); she was married to Johann Hinrich Gossler, who became a co-owner of the bank in 1769. From the late 18th century, the Gossler family, as owners of Berenberg Bank, rose to great prominence in Hamburg, and was widely considered one of Hamburg's two most prominent families, along with the related Amsinck family. A branch of the family was later ennobled by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

s of Berenberg-Gossler (Hamburg was a free imperial city and had no nobility). Several members of the Berenberg and Gossler families served in the

Senate of Hamburg The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...

from 1735, and Elisabeth Berenberg's grandson Hermann Gossler became

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the city-republic. Richard J. Evans describes the family as one of Hamburg's "great business families." The Gossler Islands in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

are named for the family. Elisabeth Berenberg and Johann Hinrich Gossler presently have descendants with names including Berenberg- Gossler, Paus, Bernstorff and other names. Members of the Berenberg family have founded several other companies. A

branch of the Berenberg family were prominent merchants in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

trade from the 17th century and co-founded the London firm Meyer & Berenberg. Berenberg-Gossler & Partner was Hamburg's leading corporate law firm and later merged into the current law firm Taylor Wessing.

History

The Berenbergs in Berg and Brabant

The Berenberg family originates from the

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ) is a low mountain range in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of the Rhine and south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by forests, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over twenty artificial lakes ...

region in the

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

. Its earliest known ancestor, Thillmann Berenberg, was born on the Groß-Berenberg estate in 1465, and was a cloth merchant. The growing

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

industry of Brabant led Thillmann's son, Jan Berenberg (born 1490 in

Gummersbach Gummersbach () is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for t ...

, died 1549 in

Lier, Belgium Lier (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. It is composed of the city of Lier proper and the village of Koningshooikt. The city centre is surrounded by the river ''Nete'', around which it g ...

), to take his family to Lier in

, where he became a burgher in 1515. He was married to Engele Segers, and they were the parents of Paul Berenberg (born ca. 1533 in Lier, died 1623 in Antwerp), who was a cloth merchant in Antwerp and who married Anna Kriekart from Everbroek. Paul Berenberg was the father of Hans (1561–1626) and Paul Berenberg (1566–1645). The two brothers married sisters Anna (1557–1635) and Francina Snellinck (1559–1642), daughters of the Antwerp merchant Andries Snellinck (1531–1606) and Françoise (Francina) de Rénialme (1539–1610). The Berenbergs were one of 130 Dutch families that had become

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

, the family fled Lier and settled in the nearby city of Antwerp (Stade). The family left Antwerp in 1585 as a result of the

Fall of Antwerp The fall of Antwerp ( ) on 17 August 1585 took place during the Eighty Years' War, after a siege lasting over a year from July 1584 until August 1585. The city of Antwerp was the focal point of the Protestant-dominated Dutch Revolt, but was fo ...

, when the city was conquered by

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma Alexander Farnese (, ; 27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592) was an Italian noble and military leader, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592, as well as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592. Nephew to Kin ...

. The strongly fortified city, Europe's leading commercial centre at the time, was defended with resolute determination and courage by its citizens, but ultimately fell, and around 60% of the city's pre-siege population fled the city, fearing Spanish massacres or

forced conversion Forced conversion is the adoption of a religion or irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert to a different religion or irreligion may continue, covertly, to adhere to the beliefs and practices which were originally held, w ...

to Roman Catholicism.

Grand burghers of Hamburg

Many Dutch refugees settled in

, among them the brothers Hans and Paul Berenberg. In 1590, they founded the merchant house now known as

. They were originally cloth merchants and active in the import-export business. In Hamburg, the Berenbergs initially formed part of a Dutch colony and intermarried with the city's leading Hanseatic families, several of which were also of Dutch descent (e.g. Amsinck). While a number of Dutch refugees became Hamburg citizens, Hans and Paul Berenberg were not prepared to take that step. In 1605, the Hamburg council issued a decree that gave the Dutch merchants the same rights as the burghers of Hamburg. Cornelius Berenberg

Hans Berenberg's son was also named Hans Berenberg (1593–1640), and was married to Adelheid Ruhlant (1611–1684), daughter of the

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

Rütger Ruhlant (1568–1630) who was ennobled by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

in 1622, and Catarina de Greve (1582–1655). Their son, Cornelius Berenberg (1634–1711), was the first to engage in

and developed the company into a very successful merchant house and merchant bank. He forged trade links with France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Scandinavia and Russia. Family connections of the Berenbergs were instrumental to the development, especially in Livorno and Lisbon with its colonies of wealthy Dutch merchants. Cornelius Berenberg was also the first Berenberg to take the oath as a Hamburg burgher in 1684; the family thus became part of Hamburg's ruling class of

Grand Burgher Grand Burgher

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

or Grand Burgheress emale(from German: Großbürger

Großbürgerin emale is a specific conferred or inherited title of Middle Ages, medieval German origin. It denotes a legally defined preeminent status grantin ...

s. Cornelius Berenberg's son, Rudolf Berenberg (1680–1746), was elected a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

in 1735. By the mid 18th century,

investment banking Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by und ...

and acceptance credits comprised a significant part of the firm's activities. Rudolf Berenberg was married to Anna Elisabeth Amsinck (1690–1748), the daughter of Paul Amsinck (1649–1706), a merchant of Hamburg and Lisbon, who was descended from the

Welser Welser was a German banking and merchant family, originally a patrician family based in Augsburg and Nuremberg, that rose to great prominence in international high finance in the 16th century as bankers to the Habsburgs and financiers of Cha ...

family. They were the parents of Rudolf Berenberg (1712–61), a merchant in Hamburg, Cornelius Berenberg (1714–73), a merchant in

, Senator Paul Berenberg (1716–1768) and of Johann Berenberg (1718–1772), a co-owner and later sole owner of the Berenberg company.

The Gossler and Seyler families

The Berenberg family were merchants, bankers and

s in Hamburg for almost two centuries until the banking branch of the Berenberg family became extinct in the

male line Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

. However, Berenberg Bank was passed on to the descendants of Johann Berenberg (1718–1772) in the female line. After Senator Paul Berenberg died childless in 1768, his brother Johann Berenberg took on his son-in-law Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–90) as a partner and eventually sole heir, as he was married to Johann Berenberg's only surviving child, Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822). The Gossler family is known in Hamburg since the 17th century, when Johann Hinrich Gossler's great-grandfather Claus Gossler (1630–1713) was a Hamburg burgher. The historian Percy Ernst Schramm describes their marriage as a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. Cases whe ...

; she was not considered beautiful, but was intelligent, cultivated, kind, spoke many languages (including Latin) and became an exemplary wife and mother. She survived her husband by 32 years and after his death managed the firm together with her son-in-law.Percy Ernst Schramm, Neun Generationen: Dreihundert Jahre deutscher "Kulturgeschichte" im Lichte der Schicksale einer Hamburger Bürgerfamilie (1648–1948). Vol. I and II, Göttingen 1963/64. JohannHinrichGossler

In 1788, Johann Hinrich Gossler bought the Mortzenhaus palace in Alter Wandrahm 101 (later 21). Built in 1621 with a renaissance facade, it was one of the largest and most well known palaces in Hamburg. The building was owned by the Gossler family until the 1880s, when it was demolished to make room for the ''

Speicherstadt The Speicherstadt (, literally: 'City of Warehouses', meaning warehouse district) in Hamburg, Germany, is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on deep foundation, timber-pile foundations—oak logs, in this parti ...

''. Johann Hinrich Gossler and Elisabeth Berenberg's eldest daughter, Anna Henriette Gossler, was married to Ludwig Erdwin Seyler, a son of the famous theatre director

Abel Seyler Abel Seyler (23 August 1730, Liestal – 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the dev ...

. In 1788, Johann Hinrich Gossler took on his son-in-law as a partner in the firm, and after Gossler's death in 1790, Seyler became head of the firm, which was renamed ''Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co.'' in 1791. He held several public offices in Hamburg and served as President of the Commerz-Deputation 1817–1818. During the

Napoleonic War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Seyler temporarily moved the headquarters of the Berenberg company to the house of his son-in-law, Gerhard von Hosstrup. L.E. Seyler and Anna Henriette Gossler's children were briefly co-owners of Berenberg Bank, and they have many prominent descendants in Hamburg and Norway with family names such as von Hosstrup, Wegner and Paus.

Anna Henriette Gossler's younger brother Johann Heinrich Gossler became a partner in 1798, and was elected a

of Hamburg in 1821. Several other family members also served as senators, with Hermann Gossler becoming First Mayor (a position equal to the federal princes, ''Bundesfürsten''). In 1880, Johann Berenberg Gossler (who had Berenberg as a

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between a person's given name and surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be given a middle ...

) and his descendants were granted the name Berenberg-Gossler by the Hamburg Senate. The Berenberg-Gosslers were ennobled in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

(which was technically a foreign country) in 1888 and raised to

ial rank in 1910. The Prussian ennoblement was somewhat controversial in the family and in Hamburg, as the grand burghers of Hamburg mostly considered the nobility inferior to Hanseatic families. Renate Hauschild-Thiessen: "Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg." In: ''Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch''. 14, 1997, p. 30. According to Richard J. Evans, "the wealthy of nineteenth-century Hamburg were for the most part stern republicans, abhorring titles, refusing to accord any deference to the Prussian nobility, and determinedly loyal to their urban background and mercantile heritage." As Johann Berenberg-Gossler was ennobled, his sister Susanne (married name Amsinck), exclaimed "Aber John, unser guter Name!" (But John, our good name!) In the 19th century, the Berenberg-Gosslers were strongly involved in the

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

process in northern Germany and in the North American trade and its finance. In 1847, the Berenberg-Gosslers were the main founders of the

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

(HAPAG) together with the merchant house H.J. Merck & Co., and in 1857 they were among the main founders of the

Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...

. They also financed the

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

of Ilseder Hütte. The houses of Berenberg-Gossler, H.J. Merck and Salomon Heine were also the main founders of the Norddeutsche Bank in 1856, the first joint-stock bank in northern Germany and one of the predecessors of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

. Since the early 19th century, Berenberg Bank had a close cooperation with

Barings Bank Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London. It was one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...

of London, and its owners a close personal relationship with the

Baring family The Baring family is a German and British family of merchants and bankers. In Germany, the family belongs to the '' Bildungsbürgertum'', and in England, it belongs to the aristocracy. History The family's earliest known ancestor is Peter Bari ...

. During the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, the Berenberg-Gossler family—themselves descended from religious refugees—especially Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler, were strongly involved in helping Jewish-origined friends and associates in Hamburg who faced persecution, securing the release of Fritz Warburg in 1939. Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler was the last family member to serve as a personally liable partner (until 1979). In Hamburg, the Gossler Park in

Blankenese Blankenese () is a suburban quarter in the borough of Altona in the western part of Hamburg, Germany; until 1938 it was an independent municipality in Holstein. It is located on the right bank of the Elbe river. With a population of 13,637 as of ...

is named after the family. In 18th and 19th century Hamburg, a marriage to a Berenberg/Gossler or the closely related Amsinck family could greatly advance one's social position, as was the case with Hamburg head of state

Max Predöhl Max Garlieb August Predöhl (29 March 1854 in Hamburg – 11 March 1923 in Hamburg) was a Hamburg lawyer and politician. He served as Senate of Hamburg, Senator and First Mayor of Hamburg (head of state and head of government). The son of a H ...

. Wilhelm Gossler (1811–1895) was the grandfather of the painter and sculptor Mary Warburg, who was married to the art historian and cultural theorist

Aby Warburg Aby Moritz Warburg (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German art historian and cultural theorist who founded the ''Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg'' (Warburg Library for Cultural Studies), a private library, which was later m ...

, a member of the Warburg banking family. Joachim von Berenberg-Consbruch (né Consbruch) and other people named Berenberg-Consbruch are not descended from the Berenberg family; he acquired the name by civil name change in Hamburg in 1976. He worked for the bank and his stepfather was a Berenberg-Gossler.

Properties

File:HH-Riefesell-32-Alte-Gröningerstraße--20-20-07-1884.JPG, The large building in Alte Gröningerstraße 20, bought in 1755 by Paul Berenberg as seat of the Berenberg company File:Mortzenhaus 2.jpg, The Mortzenhaus, city residence of Johann Hinrich Gossler and his family and seat of Berenberg Bank from 1788. During the summer, the family lived on a property outside the city. File:Stavenhagenhaus - panoramio.jpg, Frustberg House served as summer residence of Elisabeth Gossler née Berenberg from 1793 to 1822. It was built by Johann Hinrich Gossler's great-grandfather, cloth merchant Eybert Tiefbrunn, in 1703. File:Goßlerhaus.JPG, , a manor house in

, built for John Henry Gossler

Gallery

File:Emilie Gossler married Amsinck painted by Friedrich Carl Gröger.png, Emilie Gossler (1799–1875), daughter of Senator Johann Heinrich Gossler and wife of business magnate Johannes Amsinck (1792–1879), who earned a fortune trading with South American countries. Painted in 1818 by

Friedrich Carl Gröger Friedrich Carl Gröger (14 October 1766 in Plön – 9 November 1838 in Hamburg) was a north-German portrait painter and lithographer. One of the most respected portraitists of his time in northern Germany, his works are to be found in seve ...

. File:Henriette Seyler drawn by her sister Molly Seyler in 1827 (cropped).jpeg, Henriette Seyler (1805–75), daughter of Berenberg Bank head and co-owner L.E. Seyler and Anna Henriette Gossler, and wife of the Norwegian industrialist

Benjamin Wegner Jacob Benjamin Wegner (21 February 1795 – 9 June 1864) was a Norwegian business magnate. He was one of the country's leading mining magnates as the director-general and co-owner of Blaafarveværket, and also had significant interests in o ...

. Drawn by her sister Molly in 1827.

Coat of arms

The Berenbergs used as their coat of arms a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

(''im goldenen Felde auf einem grünen Schildfuß ein nach rechts aufgerichteter schwarzer Bär mit goldenem Halsband, in den Vorderpranken einen grünen Zweig haltend''). The coat of arms is known since the 17th century and was most likely adopted no later than the 16th century in

. As of 1699, the Berenberg coat of arms was still visible in the church windows in Lier.Die Berenberg-Gossler
" in: ''Vierteljahrsschrift für Heraldik, Sphragistik und Genealogie'', Vol. 9, 1881 In 1773, Johann Hinrich Gossler adopted as his coat of arms a goose foot. From 1832, the family used a more complicated coat of arms. Upon being ennobled by Prussia in 1889, the family was granted a coat of arms combining the Berenberg and 1773 Gossler coats of arms.Marcelli Janecki, ''Handbuch des preussischen Adels: Hrsg. Unter Förderung des Königlichen Herolds-Amtes'', Vol 1, E. S. Mittler, 1892 This coat of arms is also used as the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

. File:Berenberg COA.svg, Berenberg coat of arms, used since the 16th century File:Goßler Wappen.jpg, Coat of arms of the Gossler family, as used from 1832. The goose foot was adopted as the Gossler arms by Johann Hinrich Gossler in 1773 File:Barons_of_Berenberg-Gossler_COA.svg, The coat of arms of the Barons of Berenberg-Gossler, combining the Berenberg and Gossler arms Image:Berenberg coat of arms.svg, A highly stylized version of the combined Berenberg/Gossler coat of arms, used as a logo by

File:1727 grave of Sir Peter Meyer, merchant, at St. Andrew, Totteridge, Barnet, London, detail.jpeg, A 1727 variant of the Berenberg arms (a bear sitting under a tree holding a palm branch in his paws ppr.) on the grave of Sarah Anna Berenberg and her husband, Peter Meyer (merchant), Sir Peter Meyer, in

Lineage

Berenberg Bank partners in bold.

The Berenberg family

The following is the male line Berenberg family, that became extinct in the male line with Elisabeth Berenberg in 1822. *1. Jan Berenberg (1490–1549), burgher of Lier, married Engele Segers **2. Paul Berenberg (1533–1603), merchant in Antwerp, married Anna Kriekhart (1537–) ***3. (1561–1626), merchant in Hamburg, married Anna Snellinck (1557–1635), daughter of Andries Snellinck (1531–1606) and Françoise (Francina) de Rénialme (1539–1610) ****4. Francina Berenberg (1591–1628), married Arnold Amsinck (1579–1656) ****4. Hans Berenberg (1593–1640), merchant, married 1) Elisabeth Amsinck (1602–1630) and 2) Adelheid Ruhlant (1611–1684), daughter of Rütger Ruhlant (1568–1630, ennobled 1622) and Catarina de Greve (1582–1655) *****5. (of father's first marriage) Johann (John) Berenberg (1622–1699), merchant, married Magdalene de Hertoghe (1619–1694) *****5. Rudolf Berenberg (1623–1672), merchant, married Susanna de Hertoghe (1617–1674) *****5. (of father's second marriage) Cornelius Berenberg (1634–1711), merchant, married Anna Margaretha Colin (1649–1684), daughter of Daniel Colin (1615–1660) and Elisabeth Adelheid Engels (1620–1659) ******6. Rudolf Berenberg (1680–1746), merchant, President of the Commerz-Deputation 1728–1729 and Senator from 1735, married Anna Elisabeth Amsinck (1690–1748), daughter of Paul Amsinck (1649–1706) and Christina Adelheid Capelle (1663–1730) *******7. Rudolf Berenberg (1712–1761), merchant in Hamburg *******7. Cornelius Berenberg (1714–1773), merchant in Livorno *******7. Paul Berenberg (1716–1768), Senator, co-owner of Berenberg Bank *******7. Johann Berenberg (1718–1772), sole owner of Berenberg Bank, married Anna Maria Lastrop (1723–1761) ********8. Rudolf Berenberg (1748–1768) ********8. Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822), married Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–90), sole owner of Berenberg Bank *********for descendants of Elisabeth Berenberg and Johann Hinrich Gossler, see section below *****5. Anna Berenberg (1639–1669), married Rudolf Capelle (1635–1684) ******6. Christina Adelheid Capelle (1663–1730), married Paul Amsinck (see above) ****4. Andreas Berenberg (1595–1661), merchant in Hamburg, married Sara de Hertoghe (1605–1678) *****5. Hans Heinrich Berenberg (1623–1701) ******6. Paul Berenberg (1659–1712), merchant in London ******6. John Henry Berenberg (1663–1701), merchant in London, English citizen 1693, married Elizabeth Lisette, daughter of Sir Richard Lisette ******6. Sarah Anna Berenberg (1665–), married Sir Peter Meyer (merchant), Peter Meyer, merchant in London ****4. Anna Berenberg (1599–1639), married Senator Hermann Langenbeck (1596–1668) ***3. Paul Berenberg (1566–1645), married Francina Snellinck (1559–1642) ****4. Francina Berenberg (1601–1641), married Johan van Uffelen (1589–1657), whose descendants include King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands

The Berenberg/Gossler family

The following are the descendants of Elisabeth Berenberg and Johann Hinrich Gossler, the founders of the Berenberg-Gossler family. The numbers are continued from the section above. *8. Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, married Johann Hinrich Gossler (1738–90), sole owner and head of Berenberg Bank **9. Anna Henriette Gossler (1771–1836), married Ludwig Erdwin Seyler (1758–1836), co-owner and head of Berenberg Bank, President of the Commerz-Deputation 1817–1818 ***10. Sophie Henriette Elisabeth ("Betty") Seyler (1789–1837), co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836), married Gerhard von Hosstrup (1771–1851) ****11. Egmont von Hosstrup (1813–1876) ****11. Bertha von Hosstrup (1814–1902), married Albert Hänel ****11. Elisabeth von Hosstrup ***10. Johann Heinrich Seyler, co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836) ***10. Emilie ("Emmy") Seyler, co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836), married Homann ***10. Louise Auguste Seyler, co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836), married Gerhard von Hosstrup (1771–1851) ***10. Maria ("Molly") Seyler, co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836) ***10. Louise ("Wischen") Seyler (1799–1849), co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836), married G. & J. E. Pinckernelle, Ernst Friedrich Pinckernelle (1787–1868) ***10. Henriette Seyler (1805–1875), co-owner of Berenberg Bank (1836), married Norwegian industrialist

(1795–1864) ****11. Johan Ludwig Wegner (1830–1893), judge in Norway, married Blanca Bretteville, daughter of Prime Minister Christian Zetlitz Bretteville *****12. Olga Wegner (1858–1943), married supreme court justice Karenus Kristofer Thinn ****11. Heinrich Benjamin Wegner (1833–1911), timber merchant, married Henriette Vibe, daughter of classical philologist Frederik Ludvig Vibe ****11. Elisabeth Sophie Dorothea Henriette Wegner (1838–1906), married colonel and aide-de-camp to King Charles Hans Jacob Nørregaard *****12. Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard (1861–1935), war correspondent and government minister in China *****12. Ludvig Paul Rudolf Nørregaard (1863–1928), wine merchant and Norwegian consul in Tarragona *****12. Harald Nørregaard (1864–1938), barrister and Chairman of the Norwegian Bar Association ****11. Henriette Pauss, Anna Henriette Wegner (1841–1918), married private school owner Bernhard Cathrinus Pauss *****12. Nikolai Nissen Paus (1877–1956), surgeon and President of the Norwegian Red Cross *****12. Henriette Wegner Paus (1879–1942), married to private school owner Theodor Haagaas *****12. Augustin Thoresen Paus (1881–1945), hydropower executive *****12. George Wegner Paus (1882–1923), barrister and Director at the Norwegian Employers' Confederation *****12. Karoline Louise Paus (1884–1967), married to barrister Thorleif Ellestad ****11. George Mygind Wegner (1847–1881), barrister **9. Johann Nicolaus Gossler (1774-1848) **9. Johann Heinrich Gossler II (1775–1842) (birth year reported as 1772 by some sources), Senator, co-owner of Berenberg Bank ***10. Emilie Gossler (1799-1875), married Johannes Amsinck (1792–1879) ***10. Hermann Gossler (1802–1877), Senator and First Mayor ****11. Johann Heinrich Gossler (1834–1876), merchant, Hamburg Consul in Boston from 1864, later representative of the North German Confederation and the German Empire until 1872 ****11. Hermann Gossler (1845–1908), lawyer and judge in Hamburg ***10. Johann Heinrich Gossler III (1805-1879), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, consul-general of Hawaii, married Mary Elizabeth Bray (1810–1886), a granddaughter of Samuel Eliot (banker), Samuel Eliot ****11. Marianne Gossler (1830–1908), married Friedrich Wilhelm Burchard (1824–1892), co-owner of Berenberg Bank *****12. Johann Heinrich Burchard (1852–1912), First Mayor, married Emily Henriette Amsinck (1858–1931) *****12. Ulrich Hermann Christoph Burchard (1861–1926), married Olga Juliane Amsinck (1865–) ****11. Frances Eliot Gossler (1832–59), married Hermann Ludwig Behn (1820–1901) ****11. Susanne Catharine Gossler (1835–), married Martin Garlieb Amsinck (1831–1905) ****11. Baron Johann von Berenberg-Gossler (known as John) (1839–1913), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, married to Juliane Amalie Donner (1843–1916) *****12. John von Berenberg-Gossler (1866–1943), Senator, Ambassador *****12. Frances von Berenberg-Gossler (1868–1951), married Baron Hans von Berlepsch *****12. Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler (1874–1953), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, married Nadia Clara von Oesterreich ******13. Clara Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler (1899–), married Emmo von Specht ******13. Cornelius Johann Constantin von Berenberg-Gossler (1901–1942) ******13. Cornelia Nadia Julie von Berenberg-Gossler (1905–) ******13. Baron Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler (1907–1997), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, consul general of Monaco *******14. Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler *******14. Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler (publisher), founder of Berenberg Verlag ******13. Cornelius Johann Heinrich Hellmuth von Berenberg-Gossler (1909–), married Irmgard Else Meyer *******14. Cornelius Johann Heinrich Gerhard von Berenberg-Gossler *******14. Clarita Irmela Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler, married Count Hartwig (Rabe) Joachim Cornelius Alexander von Bernstorff ******13. Cornelius Paul Hellmuth von Berenberg-Gossler (1911–), married Maria Luise Francke *******14. Johann David Rudolf Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler *******14. Alexander John von Berenberg-Gossler ******13. Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler *****12. Andreas von Berenberg-Gossler (1880–1938), co-owner of Berenberg Bank, married Agnes Victorina von Francois ******13. Maria Nadia von Berenberg-Gossler (1908–) *****12. Herbert von Berenberg-Gossler (1883–1918), Professor Dr.med. et phil., married Anna Jutta Sara Elisabeth von Mallinckrodt ****11. John Henry Gossler (1849–1914), merchant ***10. Ernst Gossler (1806–1889), married Mathilde Huffel ****11. Oscar Gossler (1843–), married Elizabeth Gossler (1848–) *****12. Emmy Gossler, married Wilhelm Amsinck (1869–) ***10. Susanna Helene Gossler (1808–1893), married Senator Ami de Chapeaurouge ***10. Wilhelm Gossler (1811–1895), married Margarete Elisabeth Donner, served as President of the Commerz-Deputation 1853 ****11. Maria Gossler (1844–1915), married Hamburg senator A.F. Hertz *****12. Mary Warburg (artist), Mary Hertz (1866–1934), painter and sculptor, married

****11. Elizabeth Gossler (1848–), married Oscar Gossler (1843–) (see above) ***10. Gustav Gossler (1813–1844)

Notable descendants of Johann Hinrich Gossler and Elisabeth Berenberg

Johann Hinrich Gossler and Elisabeth Berenberg, founders of the Berenberg-Gossler family, have many notable descendants in Germany, Norway and other countries with names including Gossler, Seyler family, Seyler, von Berenberg-Gossler, von Hosstrup, G. & J. E. Pinckernelle, Pinckernelle, Schramm, Burchard, Wegner, Amsinck, Paus, Georg Heinrich Kaemmerer, Kaemmerer and von Bernstorff. *Martin Garlieb Amsinck, ship-owner *Johann Heinrich Burchard, First Mayor of Hamburg *Wilhelm Amsinck Burchard-Motz, Senator and Second Mayor of Hamburg * Hermann Gossler, First Mayor of Hamburg * Johann Heinrich Gossler, Senator *Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler, banker *Baron Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler, banker *Baron Johann von Berenberg-Gossler, banker *John von Berenberg-Gossler, Senator, German Ambassador to Italy *Egmont von Hosstrup, publisher *Benjamin Wegner Nørregaard, Norwegian war correspondent *Harald Nørregaard, supreme court advocate and chairman of the Norwegian Bar Association, friend of Edvard Munch *Nikolai Nissen Paus, humanitarian, President of the Norwegian Red Cross *George Wegner Paus, barrister and Director at the Norwegian Employers' Confederation *Bernhard Paus, humanitarian, Grand Master of the Norwegian Order of Freemasons *G. & J. E. Pinckernelle, Gustav and Johann Ernst Pinckernelle, insurance brokers * Percy Ernst Schramm, historian

Other Berenberg descendants

Among other Berenberg descendants are members of virtually all old Hamburg Hanseatic families, as well as King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (a descendant of Berenberg Bank co-founder Paul Berenberg (1566–1645) and Francina Snellinck (1559–1642)).

References

Literature

*Clarita Bernstorff, Hartwig Bernstorff, Emanuel Eckardt, ''Change is the only constant: Berenberg; a history of one of the world's oldest banks'', Hanser Literaturverlage, 336 pages, *"Freiherren von Berenberg-Gossler," in Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Band 16, Freiherrliche Häuser B II, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1957
Berenberg/Gossler
''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' *A. Leesenberg, "Die Berenberg-Gossler," ''Vierteljahrsschrift für Heraldik, Sphragistik und Genealogie'', IX, pp. 1–16, Carl Heymann's Verlag, Berlin, 1881. *A. Leesenberg, "Genealogie der Familie Gossler," ''Vierteljahrsschrift für Heraldik, Sphragistik und Genealogie'', IX, pp. 17–25, Carl Heymann's Verlag, Berlin, 1881. * Percy Ernst Schramm, ''Neun Generationen: Dreihundert Jahre deutscher Kulturgeschichte im Lichte der Schicksale einer Hamburger Bürgerfamilie (1648–1948)''. Vol. I and II, Göttingen 1963/64. * Percy Ernst Schramm, ''Kaufleute zu Haus und über See. Hamburgische Zeugnisse des 17., 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts'', Hamburg, Hoffmann und Campe, 1949 * Percy Ernst Schramm, "Kaufleute während Besatzung, Krieg und Belagerung (1806–1815) : der Hamburger Handel in der Franzosenzeit, dargestellt an Hand von Firmen- und Familienpapieren." ''Tradition: Zeitschrift für Firmengeschichte und Unternehmerbiographie'', Vol. 4. Jahrg., No. 1. (Feb 1959), pp. 1–22. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40696638 * Percy Ernst Schramm, "Hamburger Kaufleute in der 2. Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts," in: ''Tradition. Zeitschrift für Firmengeschichte und Unternehmerbiographie'' 1957, No 4., pp. 307–332. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40696554 * Percy Ernst Schramm, ''Die Vorfahren der Anna Maria Berenberg, geb. Lastrop (1723–61)'', 1957 *''Hamburgische Biografie-Personenlexikon'', Vol. 2, ed. by Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke *''Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co.: Die Geschichte eines deutschen Privatbankhauses'', Berenberg Bank, Hamburg 1990 *Manfred Pohl, ''Handbook on the History of European Banks'', European Association for Banking History, p. 362 *Renate Hauschild-Thiessen, "Johann Berenberg (1674–1749) und seine Genealogien," ''Hamburgische Geschichts- und Heimatblätter'' 10.8 (Dec 1981): 183–186 *Arne C. Wasmuth og Torsten A. Reimers, ''Hanseatische Dynastien. Alte Hamburger Familien öffnen ihre Alben'', 2001, Furthermore, the Staatsarchiv Hamburg contains extensive Berenberg/Gossler materials.

External links

History of Berenberg Bank
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenberg-Gossler-Seyler banking dynasty Berenberg-Gossler family, Dutch bankers German bankers Bankers from the Holy Roman Empire German business families History of banking Grand burghers of Hamburg German noble families Belgian families Families of Belgian ancestry