The Berenberg history can be traced back to the last years of the 15th century. The family originates from the Bergisches Land region. Thillmann Berenberg was born on the Groß-Berenberg estate in 1465. Records show that he traded in cloths. His son Jan first went to nearby Cologne and then moved on at the beginning of the 16th century to Lier, which is just outside the gates of Antwerp, where he became a citizen as »Thillmans zon de Coelenaere« as early as 1515.

Antwerp offered ideal conditions for trading. Around 1550 it was the richest and busiest city in Europe; up to 500 ships lowered and raised their anchor every day. It was the time of great discoveries and thus of Europe’s economic reorientation towards the west – and at the same time it was an era of bloody religious wars.

In 1585 the Dutch Protestants were given the choice either to convert to Catholicism or to leave the country, and like thousands of their brothers in faith, so the Protestant Berenbergs began to search for a new home. They found one in Hamburg.