Carl Deichman (1705 – 21 April 1780) was a Norwegian businessman, industrialist, book collector and philanthropist. His endowment lead to the founding of the

Oslo Public Library Oslo Public Library (officially called in Norwegian ''Deichman bibliotek'', Deichman Library) is the municipalities of Norway, municipal public library serving Oslo, Norway and is the country's first and largest library. It employs over 300 peopl ...

officially known as Deichman Library (''Deichmanske bibliotek'').

Biography

Deichman was born in

Viborg, Denmark Viborg (), a city in central Jutland, Denmark, is the capital of both Viborg municipality and Region Midtjylland. Viborg is also the seat of the Western High Court, the Courts of Denmark, High Court for the Jutland peninsula. Viborg Municipality ...

. He grew up in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was one of the six children of Bartholomæus Deichman (1671–1731), Bishop of Christiania and Else Rosemeyer (ca. 1669-1745). He received his early education at home and was taught Latin, language, history and political science. He was first employed in 1726 at the court of King Frederick IV in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. In 1733, he was appointed Chancellor and assessor in the court trial in Christiania. He later settled at

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn was ...

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

where he lived the rest of his life. Deichman had learned a practical knowledge of mining operations at the

Kongsberg Silver Mines Kongsberg Silver works () was a mining operation at Kongsberg in Viken county in Norway. The town of Kongsberg is the site of the Norwegian Mining Museum (). History Operating from over 80 different sites, Kongsberg silver mines constituted th ...

. After the death of his father's brother Evert Deichman in 1734, he purchased Fossum works (''Fossum Verk'') at Gjerpen in

together with his elder brother, Vilhelm Deichman (1709-1769) and brother-in-law Herman Leopoldus Løvenskiold (1701–1759), husband of their sister Margrethe Deichman. Carl and Vilhelm Deichman became co-owners of Bolvig Ironworks (''Bolvik Jernverk'') in

in 1734-1741. In 1737 he bought the share of Herman Løvenskiold. From 1753 the brothers were also for a time co-owners of Eidsfoss Ironworks (''Eidsfoss jernverk'') in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

. After his brother Vilhelm died in 1769, Carl Deichman became the sole owner of their not insignificant common fortune. Deicmanske bibliotek vestfasade

Deichman Library

At the time of his death in 1780, his personal collection consisted of over 6,000 books in addition to manuscripts, diplomas, maps, antiques and a coin collection. In his will Carl Deichman bequeathed his book collection to the city of Christiania. Deichman Library was opened in 1785. This collection and an additional endowment formed the initial basis for the Deichmanske bibliotek of the

. Deichman Library now consists of 22 branch libraries located all over Oslo. Carl Deichman's original collection is still intact and is well preserved in the main library.

References

Other sources

* Nils Johan Ringdal (1985) ''By, bok og borger Deichmanske bibliotek gjennom 200 år'' (Oslo: Aschehoug)

External links

Deichmanske bibliotek website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deichman, Carl 1705 births 1780 deaths Norwegian industrialists Norwegian businesspeople in mining Norwegian philanthropists Norwegian book and manuscript collectors People from Viborg Municipality 18th-century philanthropists