Johann Heinrich Burchard was a Hamburg lawyer and politician who served as senator and First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Background
Burchard was born in Bremen, a member of the Hanseatic Burchard family, the son of banker Friedrich Wilhelm Burchard (1824-1892) and Marianne Gossler (1830–1908), a granddaughter of Senator and banker Johann Heinrich Gossler and a great-granddaughter of Johann Hinrich Gossler and Elisabeth Berenberg.
Career
His father was a merchant in Bremen, who in 1853 became a partner of the Berenberg Bank (Joh Berenberg, Gossler & Company) owned by his wife"s family. The family then relocated to Hamburg, where, after taking part in the Franco-Prussian War as a volunteer, he completed his abitur at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums before studying Law at the Universities of Leipzig, Heidelberg and Göttingen. As a typical Hanseat, he rejected noble titles and any form of awards.
A portrait of Burchard by Max Liebermann is displayed at Hamburg"s representation (embassy) in Berlin.
Johann Burchard died in Hamburg, aged 60.