Johann Berenberg (genealogist)

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Johann Berenberg (born April 14, 1674 in Hamburg ; † November 21, 1749 there ) was a German businessman and genealogist .

Live and act

Johann Berenberg was the fourth generation member of the Hanseatic Berenberg family , who came from the Netherlands. Together with his brother Rudolf Berenberg (1680–1745) he continued the company founded by Hans Berenberg , which is now known as Berenberg Bank . The company initially traded as Johann and Rudolf Berenberg and, after Rudolf Berenberg had become a member of the Hamburg Senate in 1735 , as Johann and Mr. Rudolf Berenberg . They chose the suffix “Herr”, as was customary at the time, as it increased the company's reputation and creditworthiness. The Berenbergs had trading partners in Great Britain, France, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. They did business inland too. They offered a wide variety of goods, including cotton, drugs, spices, coffee and currants, wood and metal goods, tobacco and tea, various fabrics, and oil and wax.

Johann Berenberg was a member of the Commerzdeputation from 1718 and headed it as its president from 1722. He held a total of 27 honorary posts, the activities of which he carefully recorded. In 1713 he was made a citizen of the fortification, and from 1714 he took over the annual management of the fountains on Deichstrasse and Rödingsmarkt . From 1715 he managed the Testament for the Blind of Catharina Rotenburg with and took over a year later the site of the provisor of the guest and hospital. In 1717 he became a deputy of the Hamburger Feuerkasse and provisional agent of the Hiobs Hospital . Appointed war commissioner in 1718, he worked as a citizen in the building yard (1723), the admiralty (1725), bank (1726), in the convent (1731) and in the council wine cellar. He founded some administrative branches in Hamburg. The Hamburg State Archives keep several of its documents and collections on recesses, mandates, bureaucrats and city documents.

Genealogical work

Like several Berenbergs before him, Johann Berenberg managed the business of the Dutch-Armen-Casse in 1717/18 and 1733/34 , which at the time looked after needy people who had fled from the Netherlands. In order to get help from the facility, proof of Dutch ancestry had to be provided. However, since Duke Alba had expelled the ancestors a long time ago and the applicants were born in Hamburg, most of whom had no documents about their ancestors, the process became increasingly difficult. Johann Berenberg therefore carried out genealogical research on Dutch people in Hamburg. He collected poems that were held at weddings and funerals and which are now kept in the Commerzbibliothek . He also made family trees, for which he also recorded the corresponding coat of arms, if any. The original of Berenberg's genealogies can be found today in the Hamburg State Archives and a copy can be viewed. It is an important source for today's genealogical research.

Works

  • Johann Berenberg's collection concerning the Hamburg Commercium .
  • Appointments, capitulationes, oaths and ordinances pp. collected with great diligence by Johann Berenberg .
  • Hamburg delinquents from 1390 to date [1734] who were executed and criminal judgments .

literature

personal data
SURNAME Berenberg, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman and genealogist
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1674
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1749
Place of death Hamburg