Johann Berenberg (12 March 1718 – 2 March 1772) was a German merchant and banker. He was a co-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 ...

from 1748, with his brother, senator Paul Berenberg, and after the latter's death in 1768 the sole owner. The bank still bears his name (Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co.). He was also noted as an art collector and held several public offices in the city-state of Hamburg. He was a son of the Hamburg merchant banker and senator Rudolf Berenberg (1680–1746) and Anna Elisabeth

Amsinck The Amsinck family is a Dutch people, Dutch-origined patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician family whose members were prominent merchants in multiple countries including the Netherlands, Hamburg, Portugal, England, France, Kingdom of Hanover, ...

(1690–1748), and a grandson of Cornelius Berenberg and of the Lisbon and Hamburg merchant Paul Amsinck. He was also a great-grandson of the scholar Rudolf Capell, and 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. Both his parents' families were from today's

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and his family retained its Dutch identity throughout his lifetime. An extensive list of his ancestors is included in the '' Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch''. The Berenberg company had been founded by his 2nd great-grandfather Hans Berenberg and the latter's brother Paul in 1590; both were married to daughters of the prominent

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 ...

merchant Andries Snellinck and Françoise de Rénialme. At the age of 17 he was sent to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, where he learnt his trade as an apprentice in a Venice firm between 1735 and 1741; his father had started his career as an apprentice in the same firm. In 1748 he became owner of the Berenberg company together with his brother Paul. He also held numerous honorary offices in Hamburg. He was married to Anna Maria Lastrop (1723–1761), who belonged to a wealthy merchant family from Hamburg and Bremen, and they had two children. His only son Rudolf Berenberg was possibly mentally ill and died in the Dutch colony of

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

in 1768, aged 20; he had apparently been sent to manage his family's business interests there. In the same year, senator Paul Berenberg died without an heir, making Johann Berenberg's daughter Elisabeth the last surviving 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 ...

. In 1768, she married an employee of the Berenberg company,

Johann Hinrich Gossler Johann Hinrich Gossler (18 August 1738 – 31 August 1790) was a German merchant and banker. He was married to Elisabeth Berenberg (1749–1822) and succeeded his father-in-law Johann Berenberg as head of the Berenberg & Gossler company, that ...

, and in 1769, Johann Berenberg made his son-in-law a partner. Three years after Berenberg's death, Johann Hinrich Gossler succeeded him as the company's head and sole owner."Berenberg, Johann", in ''

Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie The ''Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'' (''DBE'') is a biographical dictionary published by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (from the third to fourth volume), the first edition of which was published from 1995 to 2003 in 13 volumes by K. ...

'', Vol. 1,

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

publishing house, 2005, ,

References

Literature

Percy Ernst Schramm Percy Ernst Schramm (14 October 1894 – 12 November 1970) was a German historian who specialized in art history and medieval history. Schramm was a Chair and Professor of History at the University of Göttingen from 1929 to 1963. Early lif ...

, ''Neun Generationen: Dreihundert Jahre deutscher Kulturgeschichte im Lichte der Schicksale einer Hamburger Bürgerfamilie (1648–1948)''. Vol. I and II, Göttingen 1963/64. *

, "Johann Berenberg", ''

Neue Deutsche Biographie (''NDB''; Literal translation, literally ''New German Biography'') is a Biography, biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 27 volumes published thus far co ...

'', 2, 1955, p. 68 *"Johann Berenberg", ''Hamburgische Biografie'', vol. 1, p. 43 {{DEFAULTSORT:Berenberg, Johann 1718 births 1772 deaths German bankers

Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Graciou ...

Berenberg Bank people Grand burghers of Hamburg 18th-century German businesspeople Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire Bankers from the Holy Roman Empire