The first 100 years
Brothers Moses Marcus and Gerson Warburg founded the bank M.M.Warburg & Co. in Altona, which at that time was part of Holstein. Initially the main business was in the trading of currencies and bills of exchange.In the course of the 19th century, the private bank quickly grew in importance. The Warburgs financed the foreign and overseas business for Hamburg wholesalers. The bank also made substantial sums available to the German empire for colonial offensives.
| 1867 | The bank moved to its new premises at Ferdinandstrasse 75. These premises remain the headquarters to this day. |
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| 1889 | The bank employed 23 people, the balance sheet total amounted to 35 m Reichsmark. M.M.Warburg & Co. had matured into a private bank with good international links, it conducted foreign exchange and bill transactions with major trading houses and banks; the issuing business was growing steadily. |
| 1893 | The bank gained two new partners in the fourth generation of the family, Max M. Warburg and his younger brother Paul. It was precisely the life and work of Max M. Warburg that had a lasting influence on the history of the bank. |
| 1898 | Upon M.M.Warburg & Co. celebrating its 100th anniversary in 1898,
the share capital had risen to 5.7 million marks, and from the bill transactions business of the
historical period known as the “Gründungszeit” had grown a renowned private bank with 53 employees.
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