Max Heinrich Sutor (1881-1969) - banker, advisor and trusted friend

As a Hamburg merchant, Max Heinrich Sutor was active in the South American trade and enjoyed great trust among his business partners. These were his first customers, as they entrusted him with their fortunes on the often dangerous Atlantic crossing. With his bank, he was not only able to preserve this money, but also to increase it.
As a member of the Patriotic Society of 1765, Sutor also took his social responsibility seriously. He was able to inspire numerous people from his personal and professional environment with his ideas for the common good. As a versatile personality, he was their banker, advisor and often also a good friend.

1921 to 1948

On 10 March 1921, Sutor Bank was entered in the commercial register at Hamburg District Court as ‘Max Heinr. Sutor oHG’. The idea of founder Max Heinrich Sutor was to establish a private bank specialising in asset management at a time of economic crisis and inflation, investing in tangible assets with solid substance.
During the hyperinflation (1922-1923) and later in the crises triggered by Nazi policies and the Second World War, Sutor Bank's customers also suffered losses. But despite the period of occupation, blocked accounts, securities adjustments and the renewed currency conversion in 1948, the customer assets entrusted to Sutor Bank escaped relatively unscathed. No wonder, but the result of a consistent real asset strategy. Then as now, the assets were invested in accordance with the Sutor Investment Code.

50s to the turn of the millennium

In 1953, Sutor Bank found its new premises in the Haus der Patriotischen Gesellschaft von 1765. In 1957, the next generation, the son of the founder, Werner Sutor, joined the company as an ‘authorised signatory’. On his initiative, the Sutor Foundation for the Promotion of the Science of Architecture and Technology was established in 1984. In addition to the securities commission and custody business and the foundations, Sutor Bank developed the investment business in the form of savings contracts as an independent line of business from 1989. Here too, as is typical of Sutor Bank, the most reliable way to provide for the future is to save in tangible assets, especially shares and equity funds. Werner Sutor was succeeded as Managing Director in 1991 by Walter Ihlow (until 2008), from 1997 together with Axel Wendt (until 2009).

Werner Sutor (1915-2004)

Werner Sutor was born in Hamburg on 19 September 1915. From 1940 he supported his father Max Heinrich in the banking business, from 1957 as a partner in a general partnership. His voluntary work for associations and foundations played a major role in Werner Sutor's life. His strong commitment to foundations has had a lasting impact on the face of Sutor Bank to this day.
 

His attachment to his home town is reflected in his commitment to the ‘Vaterstädtische Stiftung’ foundation, which Werner Sutor chaired for over 50 years, and in his membership of the ‘Verein für Hamburger Geschichte’ association. He was also active in the Patriotic Society of 1765, the Goldenstede Foundation, the Hartwig Hesse Foundation and the Amanda Rückert Provident Fund. Werner Sutor was the executor of the Ernst and Elfriede Griebel's Förderstiftung and the dependent Niemann Foundation.
 

Werner Sutor made his own mark with the Sutor Foundation, which he established together with his sister Clara Sutor in 1984. The purpose of the foundation is to promote the science of architecture and technology. A love of architecture is deeply rooted in the Sutor family: Werner Sutor's great-great-grandfather, Carl Ludwig Wimmel (1786-1845), was Chief Building Director in Hamburg at the time of the Great Fire of 1842. As a master builder and architect, he left his mark on Hamburg's cityscape. His designs include the New Stock Exchange, which he planned together with his colleague Gustav Forsmann and completed in 1841, as well as the Hamburg Stock Exchange and the façade of the Esplanade. Wimmel's work is still a role model today and at the same time an incentive for Sutor Bank's Foundation Office to become involved in networking in the foundation sector.