The article focuses on the Augsburg Paumgartners in the 16th century. Members of three generations were involved in granting loans to German monarchs and in accumulating mining products like copper or silver and controlling their distribution in Tyrol and northern Italy. Because of their economic success, they were able to acquire feudal estates, thus becoming territorial lords. This development was connected to a social rise from mere citizens of Augsburg to the rank of a local patrician family and into the nobility. This essay looks at the familial and economic challenges which the Paumgartners had to confront. It takes a close look at their ways of preparing for and coping with these challenges. It is therefore expedient to apply a concept of resilience which is used in economic history. The handling of testamentary dispositions across several generations, and mutual accusations traded between the Paumgartner brothers at the end of their economic activity before the family’s eventual bankruptcy.