Berenberg Bank A German multinational bank, Berenberg Bank, was founded in 1590 in Hamburg, Germany, by two brothers, Hans and Paul Berenberg, who were cloth merchants.Berenberg Bank primarily a merchant bank and a private bank, is the world's oldest merchant bank.However, even today Berenberg Bank is one of the leading independent merchant banks and private banks of Europe with its core areas as investment banking, institutional asset management, private banking for wealthy private customers and commercial banking.