Warburg family

M. M. Warburg & Co.
Company type	Private
Industry	Investment banking, finance
Founded	1798
Founder	Moses Marcus Warburg, Gerson Warburg
Headquarters	Hamburg, Germany
Area served	Global
Key people	Max Warburg Jr. (partner)
Products	Investment banking, private equity

The Warburg family is a distinguished banking dynasty with roots in both Germany and the United States, originating from German Jewish and initially Venetian Jewish heritage. They are widely acknowledged for their influential roles in investment banking, finance, private equity, economics, and philanthropy, as well as their notable contributions to various scholarly and cultural disciplines.

Their lineage traces back to the Venetian Jewish del Banco family, among the wealthiest in early 16th-century Venice. Due to prohibitions on Jewish banking, they migrated from Venice through Bologna to the town of Warburg in Westphalia, adopting its name as their family surname. The earliest documented ancestor is Simon von Kassel (1500–1566).

Following the Thirty Years' War, the family settled in Altona, near Hamburg. There, in 1798, they established M. M. Warburg & Co., which remains one of the oldest investment banks still in operation globally. Additional significant financial entities founded by members of the family include London's S. G. Warburg & Co., later acquired by UBS in 1995, and the American private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Alsterufer and Mittelweg branches

The Warburg lineage is primarily divided into two branches: the Alsterufer Warburgs, descending from Siegmund Warburg, and the Mittelweg Warburgs, stemming from his sibling Moritz M. Warburg (1838–1910). These designations originate from their respective residences within Hamburg's Rotherbaum district. Both brothers were grandsons of Moses Marcus Warburg.

Prominent individuals include Siegmund George Warburg of the Alsterufer branch; and Abraham (Aby) M., Max M., Paul M., Felix M., along with Fritz Moritz Warburg representing the Mittelweg line.

In 1798, Moses Marcus Warburg (1763–1830) and Gerson Warburg (1765–1826) founded M. M. Warburg & Co.. Siegmund George Warburg, Moses’s great-great-grandson, later launched London's investment bank S. G. Warburg & Co in 1946. Eric Warburg, a second cousin of Siegmund, created the New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus in 1938. Eric’s son Max Warburg Jr.—not to be confused with Eric’s father Max—currently serves as one of three partners at M.M.Warburg & Co.

Aby Warburg utilized family support to establish the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg in Hamburg, which relocated to London in 1934 and became known as the Warburg Institute.

Paul Warburg is celebrated for his pivotal role in designing the US Federal Reserve System, inaugurated in 1913; he was a founding board member and served as Vice Chairman until 1918.

American and German branches

Felix and Paul Warburg emigrated to America, forming the core of the German-American branch of the family. Based in New York City, they developed close affiliations with Kuhn, Loeb & Co., an influential investment bank where both held senior partnership positions. Felix married Frieda Schiff, daughter of banker Jacob H. Schiff, who was instrumental in financing much of America's railroad expansion through Kuhn, Loeb & Co. Paul married Nina Loeb, daughter of co-founder Solomon Loeb, further strengthening ties between the Warburgs and Kuhn, Loeb & Co.

The family maintained strong Jewish identities alongside extensive international networks. The Felix M. Warburg House in New York now functions as the Jewish Museum. Additionally, Kfar Warburg in Israel commemorates Felix’s legacy. Otto Warburg, a cousin residing in Germany, led the World Zionist Organization beginning in 1911. Paul Warburg was instrumental as an original board member of the U.S. Federal Reserve System overseeing private commercial banks.

During Germany’s Weimar Republic era, Max Warburg held a position on the Reichsbank board from 1924 to 1933 under chairmen Hjalmar Schacht and Hans Luther while also serving on supervisory boards for major companies such as HAPAG, Blohm & Voss, Beiersdorf, and until 1932, chemical giant IG Farben. Facing Nazi persecution, Max emigrated in 1938. His brother Paul—who passed away in 1932—also held supervisory roles including at an I.G. Farben subsidiary.

By 1938 most members of the German branch had escaped to either Britain or the United States. Fritz Warburg was detained by the Gestapo before fleeing to Sweden in 1939; his daughter Eva facilitated emigration for 500 Jewish children to Sweden. Tragically, three cousins—Gerta along with her daughters Betty and Helene Julie—were victims of Nazi concentration camps. A portrait of Helene Julie painted by Edvard Munch is displayed at Zurich's Kunsthaus.

After World War II, Eric Warburg—son of Max—returned to Germany serving as a U.S. Air Force colonel and played a crucial role in fostering German-Jewish reconciliation and revitalizing Germany’s economic relationships through his global business connections. His son Max currently holds a partnership at M.M. Warburg & Co. in Hamburg.

Venetian beginnings

The Warburg lineage traces back to Venice, where the family originally used the surname del-Banco. In the early 1500s, Anselmo del Banco, a prosperous Jewish citizen of Venice, received official permission in 1513 to engage in money lending with interest. Due to escalating limitations imposed on Jews and the creation of the Venetian Ghetto, the family moved first to Bologna, then to the German town of Warburg. There, they adopted the name of the town as their family surname before eventually settling in Hamburg following the Thirty Years' War.

Prominent figures

Moses Marcus Warburg (1763–1830), who co-established M. M. Warburg & Co. in 1798 alongside his brother Gerson Warburg (1765–1825).
- Sara Warburg (1805–1884), who married her cousin Abraham Samuel Warburg (1798–1856)
  - Rosa Warburg (1833–1908), spouse of Paul Schiff, director at Vienna's Creditanstalt
  - Siegmund Warburg, married to Théophilie Rosenberg
    - Abraham Samuel Warburg (1864–1933)
    - Georg Gabriel Warburg (1871–1923), married Lucie Lea Kaulla
      - Siegmund George Warburg (1902–1982), founder of S. G. Warburg & Co in London, married Eva Maria Philipson
        Georg Albert Siegmund Warburg (1927–2023), spouse Elinor Bliss Bozyan
  - Moritz M. Warburg (1838–1910), married Charlotte Oppenheim
    - Aby Warburg (1866–1929), noted German art historian
    - Max Warburg (1867–1946), banker by profession
      - Eric M. Warburg (1900–1990), founder of Warburg Pincus, married Dorothea Thorsch
        Max M. Warburg jr. (born 1948)
        
        Marie Warburg, married journalist Michael Naumann
        
        Erica Warburg
    - Paul Warburg (1868–1932), key architect of the Federal Reserve, married Nina Loeb
      - James Warburg (1897–1969), economist and Roosevelt advisor, married composer Kay Swift
        Andrea Swift Warburg (1922–2009), spouse Sidney Kaufman
        Novelist Katharine Kaufman Weber
      - Bettina Warburg (1900–1990), psychiatrist
    - Katharine Warburg (1870–1935), philanthropist and banker, married Isaac Dorfman
    - Felix M. Warburg (1871–1937), New York banker with Kuhn, Loeb & Co., philanthropist, married Frieda Schiff
      - Carola Warburg Rothschild (1896–1987), wife of Walter N. Rothschild
        Walter N. Rothschild Jr.
        
        Phyllis Rothschild Peters Farley
        
        Carol Rothschild Bradford Noyes, married diplomat Charles P. Noyes
        Their descendants include David A., Carola Lea, Madhavi, Deborah Bradford, and Peter A. Bradford
        Arthur Bradford
        
        Laura Rothschild Bradford Kirkpatrick
      - Frederick Marcus Warburg (1897–1973), investment banker, married Wilma L. Shannon
      - Gerald Felix Warburg (1901–1971), cellist and conductor, married Natica Nast
        Felix Max Warburg (1924–2019), architect and environmental advocate, married Sandol Stoddard and Sue Rosenthal
        
        Geraldine Warburg Kohlenberg Zetzel, married Arthur Kohlenberg and Louis Zetzel
        
        Jeremy Warburg, spouse musician William Russo
        Writer Alexander Russo
        
        Jonathan F. Warburg
      - Paul Felix Warburg (circa 1904–1965)
      - Edward Warburg (1908–1992), arts philanthropist, married Mary Warburg
        David J. Warburg, spouse Caroline MacDonald
        Ian Edward Warburg (b. 1972), author and philanthropist, married Jane Green
        
        Daphne Warburg (b. 1949), married Michael Ramon Langhorne Astor
    - Olga Warburg (1872–1895)
    - Fritz M. Warburg (1879–1964), resided in Stockholm during both World Wars; father of Eva Warburg who facilitated Kindertransport to Sweden.
    - Louisa Warburg (1879–1973), married Julius Derenberg
      - Walter Julius Derenberg (1903–1975), legal scholar

Family Connections

Emil Warburg (1846–1931), physicist from Germany
Otto Heinrich Warburg (1883–1970), physiologist and biochemist awarded the Nobel Prize
Otto Warburg (1859–1938), botanist and former president of the World Zionist Organization

External links

Irving Katz's critique of The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family authored by Ron Chernow