Anglo-German Club

The Anglo-German Club is a private social and business club based in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1948. Its official purpose is the promotion of German-British relations. Since its founding it has been housed in a heritage-listed villa at Harvestehuder Weg 44 on the Außenalster, a building that had previously been used as officers' quarters by the British military administration after the Second World War. The club describes itself as the "last British colony on the continent" and combines British and Hanseatic traditions in its clubhouse. The club was established on the initiative of John Dunlop, then deputy regional commissioner of the British Military Government in Hamburg, who wanted to rebuild friendly relations between Britons and Germans after the war. He recruited prominent founding members from Hamburg politics and business, including Mayor Max Brauer, later mayors Kurt Sieveking, Paul Nevermann and Herbert Weichmann, and business figures such as Albert Schäfer, Erik Blumenfeld, Karl Klasen, Ernst Rowohlt, John Jahr and Axel Springer. From the outset, the club combined reconciliation with international political and economic networking. From the 1960s onward, under chairman Heinrich Freiherr von Berenberg-Gossler, the club increasingly became a business club with a focus on banking. It has hosted confidential meetings of German chancellors such as Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl, and its speaker list has included business leaders, politicians and international guests. Regular events include dinners with prominent guests, an annual golf tournament, a Christmas dinner and a garden party held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. The club remains a private association with an honorary chairmanship; since 2025 the chairman has been Hans-Wilhelm Jenckel.

The Anglo-German Club was founded in 1948 in Hamburg, which after the end of the Second World War in 1945 lay in the British occupation zone and was administered by a British regional commissioner. Among the 1,500 houses and apartments confiscated by the military government was the Müller family villa at Harvestehuder Weg 44, which was used by the British as officers' quarters. Although Hamburg had been regarded as the most British of German cities due to its trade contacts in the 18th and 19th centuries, tensions arose between the British military government and the Hamburg Senate under mayors Rudolf Petersen (1945/46) and Max Brauer (1946–1949), exacerbated by the fact that in summer 1947 around 30,000 Britons were working in the city alongside Hamburg residents and many refugees. This tense situation led deputy regional commissioner John Dunlop in 1948 to found a club on the British model in the rooms of the villa used by British officers, intended to restore friendly relations between Britons and Germans. He succeeded in recruiting a number of prominent Hamburg politicians as founding members, including Mayor Max Brauer, later mayors Kurt Sieveking (then Senate syndic and liaison to the military government), Paul Nevermann (then building senator) and Herbert Weichmann (then president of the audit office). Important business representatives also became founding members, such as Albert Schäfer, president of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, vice-president Erik Blumenfeld, Karl Klasen, president of the Hamburg state central bank, and publishers Ernst Rowohlt, John Jahr and Axel Springer. The latter received his licence to print the Hamburger Abendblatt in the Anglo-German Club in October 1948 from Erich Lüth, director of the state press office. From the beginning, alongside reconciliation between Britons and Germans, international connections in politics and business were central, initially serving to restore Germany's international acceptance. From the 1960s, when private banker Heinrich Freiherr von Berenberg-Gossler, a partner in Berenberg Bank, took over the chairmanship, the Anglo-German Club increasingly developed into a business club with a focus on banking. Bundesbank president Karl Blessing founded a "Wednesday round" of Hanseatic bankers here. Then federal economics minister Karl Schiller had already become a founding member in 1948 as a 37-year-old member of the Hamburg parliament. Political exchange remained a focus. In subsequent years, chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl met here for confidential talks behind closed doors. The speaker list has since mostly featured entrepreneurs and bankers such as August Oetker, Theo Sommer, Michael Otto or Josef Ackermann, national politicians such as Peer Steinbrück or Federal President Joachim Gauck, and international guests such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Shimon Peres. However, the German-British tradition was never forgotten. German and British ministers met here for informal meetings, and speakers such as British politicians Douglas Hurd and Michael Heseltine or authors such as Frederick Forsyth and John le Carré continued the founding idea. Prince Andrew was even allowed to sit under the portrait of his mother. No published speaker list exists. Asked about prominent guests admitted here, long-time president Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler used to reply with a counter-question: "Which ones not?" In 1997, Claus-Günther Budelmann not only succeeded Heinrich von Berenberg-Gossler as a partner of Berenberg Bank but also as chairman of the Anglo-German Club; in 2007 he also followed the tradition of founding member John Dunlop and became British honorary consul in Hamburg. In 2025 he handed over the chairmanship to his previous deputy Hans-Wilhelm Jenckel. Both are also linked commercially as shareholders of the Swiss bank Bergos AG (formerly Berenberg Bank (Schweiz) AG). Budelmann himself was appointed honorary chairman. The chairmanship is honorary. The chairmen to date are: 1948 to 1949 Sir Vaughan Berry (1891–1979), civil governor of the British Military Government for Hamburg; 1949 to 1968 Sir John Dunlop (1892–1974), regional commissioner of the British Military Government, then British honorary consul in Hamburg; 1968 to 1997 Heinrich Freiherr von Berenberg-Gossler (1907–1997), private banker and partner of Berenberg Bank; 1997 to 2025 Claus-Günther Budelmann (born 1944), private banker, partner of Berenberg Bank and British honorary consul in Hamburg from 2007 to 2015; since 2025 Hans-Wilhelm Jenckel (born 1955), business lawyer and shareholder and member of the board of directors of the Swiss private bank Bergos AG (formerly Berenberg Bank (Schweiz) AG). Regular events include dinners with prominent English and German guests from politics, business and culture, an annual golf tournament, the Christmas dinner with well-known artists, and the garden party held every year in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's birthday. The club also supports institutions...

• 2025

  Hans-Wilhelm Jenckel becomes chairman; Budelmann appointed honorary chairman.

• 2007

  Budelmann becomes British honorary consul in Hamburg (until 2015).

• 1997

  Claus-Günther Budelmann becomes chairman (until 2025).

• 1968

  Heinrich Freiherr von Berenberg-Gossler becomes chairman (until 1997).

• 1949

  Sir John Dunlop becomes chairman (until 1968).

• 1948

  Club founded on the initiative of John Dunlop in the villa at Harvestehuder Weg 44.

• 1948

  Axel Springer receives licence to print the Hamburger Abendblatt at the club.

Exclusive private club for German-British relations, combining tradition, business networking and cultural exchange.

Product categories. Membership · Dining and catering · Private events · Business networking

1. 1Anglo-German Club official websiteanglogermanclub.de
2. 2Wikidata: Anglo-German Clubwikidata.org
3. 3Wikipedia (German): Anglo-German Club (Hamburg)de.wikipedia.org