Cornelius Berenberg (1634–1711) was a

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 ...

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 ...

merchant banker 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 ...

, a member of the

Berenberg family The Berenberg family (Dutch language, Dutch for "bear mountain") was a Flanders, Flemish-origined Hanseaten (class), Hanseatic family of merchants, bankers and senators in Hamburg, with branches in London, Livorno and other European cities. The ...

, and owner of

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 ...

. His grandfather (1561–1626) had fled 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 ...

with his brother Paul Berenberg (1566–1645) and established the Berenberg merchant house in Hamburg. In Hamburg, the Berenberg family formed part of the Dutch merchant colony. Cornelius Berenberg was the first to engage in merchant banking. He developed the company into a very successful merchant house and merchant bank, and 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.self-portrayal of the bank, in: Manfred Pohl (ed.), ''Handbook on the History of European Banks'', European Association for Banking History, p. 362 His father was Hans Berenberg (1593–1640) and his mother was Adelheid Ruhlant (1611–1684), a 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 had been 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). He was married to Anna Margaretha Colin (1649–1684), daughter of Daniel Colin (1615–1660) and Elisabeth Adelheid Engels (1620–1659). His son was senator and banker Rudolf Berenberg.

Literature

*''Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co.: Die Geschichte eines deutschen Privatbankhauses'',

, Hamburg 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenberg, Cornelius Bankers from the Holy Roman Empire Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire Cornelius Berenberg Bank people Grand burghers of Hamburg 1634 births 1711 deaths 17th-century German businesspeople 18th-century German businesspeople