Baron Johann von Berenberg-Gossler (born 13 February 1839 in Hamburg, died 8 December 1913 in Hamburg; né Johann Gossler), known as "John," was a German

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts 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 markets. Becaus ...

from the city-state of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and owner and head of Berenberg Bank from 1879 until his death. He was a member of the Hanseatic Berenberg/Gossler family and the son of banker Johann Heinrich Gossler (1805–1879), grandson of banker and senator

Johann Heinrich Gossler Johann Heinrich Gossler (born 28 March 1775, died 3 April 1842) was a Hamburg banker and grand burgher, a member of the Berenberg-Gossler-Seyler banking dynasty, a co-owner (from 1798) of the Berenberg Bank and a senator of Hamburg from 1821. He ...

and great-grandson of banker

Johann Hinrich Gossler Johann Hinrich Gossler (born 18 August 1738 in Hamburg, died 31 August 1790 in Hamburg) was a German banker and grand burgher of Hamburg, a member of the Hanseatic Berenberg/Gossler banking dynasty and the owner and head of the firm Joh. Beren ...

. His uncle was First Mayor and President of the Senate (

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

)

Hermann Gossler Hermann Gossler (born 21 August 1802 in Hamburg, died 10 May 1877 in Hamburg) was a Hamburg lawyer, senator (1842–77) and First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (i.e. the city republic's head of state ...

. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Bray (1810–1886), a granddaughter of Samuel Eliot and a member of the Eliot family from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Known as "John Bi" (B pronounced in English) by his friends, he was a ''Schöngeist''. He loved music and the theatre, and wanted to study languages, literature and history. But his father had destined him to become a banker. After apprenticeships in England, France, North and South America, he became an ''associé'' of his father's bank in 1864. After the death of his father in 1879, he became head of Berenberg Bank. In 1880, the Hamburg senate granted him the name of Berenberg-Gossler in recognition of the fact that he was the owner of the Berenberg Bank (the Berenberg family became extinct in the male line in 1773, but the Gosslers were descended from the family through the family's last member Elisabeth Berenberg married Gossler, who died in 1822). In 1888, Johann Berenberg-Gossler was

ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

(although he was a citizen of Hamburg and not of Prussia) and conferred the title of Baron in 1910. The ennoblement was controversial within his family and Hamburg high society, as nobility (which did not exist in Hamburg) was frowned upon by the staunchly republican Hamburg grand burghers. His sister Susanne (married name Amsinck), exclaimed "Aber John, unser guter Name!" (But John, our good name!)Renate Hauschild-Thiessen: "Adel und Bürgertum in Hamburg." In: ''Hamburgisches Geschlechterbuch'' 14, 1997, p. 30. Johann von Berenberg-Gossler was less inclined to take risks than his father, and closed the bank's branches in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

in 1880 and 1891 respectively. At the time of his death, he was the second richest person in Hamburg. He was the father of Senator and Ambassador

John von Berenberg-Gossler John von Berenberg-Gossler (22 October 1866 in Hamburg – 14 July 1943) was a Hamburg banker, politician and grand burgher. Career He was elected Senator in Hamburg in 1908 and served as German Ambassador to Italy 1920–21. He was a member of ...

(1866–1943) and banker Baron Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler (1874–1953). His son John von Berenberg-Gossler became a politician despite his father's wish that he would succeed him as head of the bank, and therefore had to give up his shares in the company. He was succeeded as head of the bank and as Baron of Berenberg-Gossler (a title tied to the ownership of Gut Niendorf) by his younger son Cornelius von Berenberg-Gossler.

References

Literature

*"Johann von Berenberg-Gossler", in ''Hamburgische Biografie-Personenlexikon'', pp. 154–155, Volume 2, edited by Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke *

Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

, Band 16, Freiherrliche Häuser B II, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1957 {{DEFAULTSORT:Berenberg-Gossler, Johann 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 Gracious ...

Berenberg Bank people Grand burghers of Hamburg Prussian nobility German people of American descent 1839 births 1913 deaths