Carl Frederik Tietgen (19 March 1829 – 19 October 1901) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

financier and industrialist. He played an important role in the

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

of Denmark as the founder of numerous prominent Danish companies, many of which are still in operation today. Tietgen notably formed

conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...

s, thus several of Tietgen's companies attained

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

-like status, cementing their durability. Tietgen was a dedicated Grundtvigian, and financed the completion of the Marble Church at his own expense.

Early life and career

Tietgen was born on 19 March 1829 in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

, the son of a

social club A social club may be a group of people or the place where they meet, generally formed around a common interest, occupation, or activity. Examples include: book discussion clubs, chess clubs, anime clubs, country clubs, charity work, criminal ...

manager catering to the local

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

. He helped his family out at the club throughout his childhood. After finishing his commercial apprenticeship, he worked in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

for five years, and settled in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. During that time he also traveled to northern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. In the United Kingdom Tietgen gained experience in private banking, which at that time in Denmark was an industry still in its infancy.

Career at Privatbanken

Upon returning to Denmark Tietgen founded a wholesale business, C.F. Tietgen & Co., at Copenhagen’s

Amagertorv Amagertorv (English: Amager Square), today part of the Strøget pedestrian zone, is often described as the most central square in central Copenhagen, Denmark. Second only to Gammeltorv, it is also one of the oldest, taking its name from the Amage ...

in 1855, and later relocated it to Gammeltorv Market. In spite of the office impressive locations, the business was a modest sole proprietorship, dealing primarily as an agent between business connections in

and

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 1857 after his involvement as curator in a bankruptcy had demonstrated a remarkable eye for economy and strategic thinking, he was invited to join the management of which under him developed into Denmark's first

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

. In the span of four decades as head of , Tietgen created and consolidated a large number of companies, and gained control of major companies in several industrial sectors. In the transportation industry Tietgen developed several railroads, capitalized

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...

as well as

Svitzer (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...

in 1872. He created

Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ...

as a merger of several smaller operators and in 1880 founded

Thingvalla Line Thingvalla line was a shipping company founded by Danish financier, industrialist and philanthropist Carl Frederik Tietgen in 1879 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It maintained a route between Copenhagen and New York City calling at Kristiania (present d ...

. Tietgen created several companies in the telegraph and telecommunications sector. He founded Det Store Nordiske Telegraf-Selskab in 1868, and with the arrival of the telephone

KTAS KTAS (channel 33) is a Spanish=language independent television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California. Owned by Raul and Consuelo Palazuelos, the station maintains studios on Carm ...

was founded in 1880. In 1872 Tietgen formed

De Danske Sukkerfabrikker () was a Danish sugar manufacturing company established in 1872 in Copenhagen, Denmark. It played a central role in the development of a thriving Danish sugar industry based on sugar beets from Lolland-Falster, Møn and Funen. The company merged ...

as a merger of several sugar refineries. In 1873 followed the cofounding of the

Tuborg Tuborg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1873 on a harbour in Hellerup, an area North of Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 1970 it has been part of the Carlsberg Group. The brewery's flagship, the Tuborg pilsner, was brewed for the first time in ...

brewery and the consolidation of several smaller coffee substitute companies forming . In 1881 several smaller distillers were merged to form

De Danske Spritfabrikker Danish Distillers ( da, Det Danske Spiritus Kompagni known as ) is a company that was headquartered in Aalborg, Denmark. Isidor Henius, the father of Max Henius, was one of the founders of a company that was acquired by Danish Distillers, which en ...

and in 1891 the merger of several independent breweries formed . In 1869 Tietgen cofounded with a group of European bankers, which in 1872 merged to form

Paribas The Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (“Bank of Paris and the Netherlands”), generally referred to from 1982 as Paribas, was a French investment bank based in Paris. In May 2000, it merged with the Banque Nationale de Paris to form BNP Paribas. ...

. Tietgen was a major force and a European pioneer in

industrial consolidation In business, consolidation or amalgamation is the merger and acquisition of many smaller companies into a few much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, ''consolidation'' refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a grou ...

. Tietgen would merge several competing companies in a given industry, creating large publicly traded stock companies. would become a major shareholder in the new company, as would a circle of business associates and Tietgen himself. He retired from in 1896, after suffering a stroke in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1894.

Founded companies

* Det Store Nordiske Telegraf-Selskab (1868) The companies founded or co-founded by Tietgen include: *

(1872), today part of

Danisco Danisco A/S is a Danish bio-based company with activities in food production, enzymes and other bioproducts as well as a wide variety of pharmaceutical grade excipients. It was formed in 1989 from the largest Danish industrial merger ever of th ...

* B&W (1872) *

(1879) *

(1881), today part of Danisco *

(1882) *

(1866) *

Tuborg Brewery Tuborg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1873 on a harbour in Hellerup, an area North of Copenhagen, Denmark. Since 1970 it has been part of the Carlsberg Group. The brewery's flagship, the Tuborg pilsner, was brewed for the first time in ...

Philanthropist

Tietgen was also to some extent a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, notably paying for the completion of Marble Church. He also built

Taarbæk Church Taarbæk Church (Danish language, Danish: Taarbæk Kirke), formerly known as Skovkapellet, is a Church of Denmark parish church in Taarbæk, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, some 15 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The church and adjacent ...

on the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...

coast north of Copenhagen.

Personal life

Tietgen married 19-year-old Laura Charlotte Jørgensen on 8 August 1855 in

Vejstrup Vejstrup is a small town located on the island of Funen in south-central Denmark, in Svendborg Municipality. It is located 26 km south of Nyborg and 10 km northeast of Svendborg Svendborg () is a town on the island of Funen in south-c ...

on the island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

. Tietgen suffered partial

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

following a minor

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in 1894. He was weakened for the last years of his life, causing him to retire from most of his positions. Tietgen died in the evening of 19 October 1901 and a memorial ceremony took place at the Marble Church on 23 October. He was buried in

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping street and the site of ...

on 29 October 1901.

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tietgen, Carl Frederik 19th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Copenhagen City Council members People from Odense 1829 births 1901 deaths