Berenberg Bank

Common card · No. 260955

Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, commonly known as Berenberg Bank and also branded as simply Berenberg, is a German multinational full-service private and merchant bank headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. It is considered the world's oldest merchant bank. It was founded around 1590 by Hans and Paul Berenberg, Protestant Flemish refugees from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium). Their descendants, the Berenberg and Gossler families, belonged to the ruling elite of Hanseatic merchants of the city-republic of Hamburg and several family members served in the city-state's government from 1735. Like many other merchant bankers, the Berenbergs were originally cloth merchants. The company involved itself in shipping, whaling and ship insurance from the late 19th century, and in extensive trade with colonial goods imported from the Americas and Asia. By the early 19th century the company was one of Northern Europe's leading sugar merchants. During the 18th and 19th centuries the company...

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