Carsten Tank (24 April 1766 – 28 January 1832) was a Norwegian businessman and politician who served as

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

councilor of government of the 1st Ministry (finance and taxes, March–November 1814), and later councilor of state of the same ministry.

Biography

Carsten Tank was born at Rød Herregård, the family estate at

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a town and a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, Rakkestad to the north and Aremark to the east, as well as the Swedish muni ...

Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...

County, Norway. Carsten Tank belonged to a branch of a wealthy timber merchant family. Carsten Tank's grandfather, Carsten Nielsen Tank was a merchant and acquired Rød Herregård in 1733. His parents were Nils Carstensen Tank (1725–1801) and Sophie Cathrine Leuch (1740–1778). Carsten Tank was a merchant and ship owner as well as being involved in the timber trade. He came to own numerous properties, a tobacco factory, several sawmills and large forests. He lost his fortune and in December 1829 had to file for bankruptcy.

Personal life

Carsten Tank was married first to Bartha Sophie Leth (d. 1795) from Halden, and secondly to Catherine von

Cappelen Cappelen is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cappelen (family), a distinguished Norwegian family * Andreas Zeier Cappelen (1915–2008), Norwegian jurist and politician * August Cappelen (1827–1852), Norwegian paint ...

(1772–1837), sister of Didrich von Cappelen (1761–1828), who was the deputy for

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

to the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly (in Norwegian ''Grunnlovsforsamlingen'', also known as ''Riksforsamlingen'') is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll in Norway, that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised th ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information E ...

in 1814 which established the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

. His son,

Nils Otto Tank Nils Otto Tank (March 11, 1800 – May 4, 1864) was a Norwegian born, Moravian Church missionary and teacher. He was a pioneer settler in Wisconsin. Background Nils Otto Tank was born near Halden in Østfold, Norway. He was the son of a wealthy ...

(1800–1864) was the noted

Moravian Church The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...

missionary to the Dutch colony of

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. His daughter, Petronelle Didrikke Cathrine, (died 1833) who married Peter Martin Anker inherited the family estate Rød Herregård.

Rød Herregård

Rød Herregård in Halden is one of the best preserved

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

in Norway. The property features well-preserved buildings, a

Baroque garden The Baroque garden was a style of garden based upon symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The style originated in the late-16th century in Italy, in the gardens of the Vatican and the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome and in the ga ...

and an English landscape garden. The buildings have their oldest origins of the late 1600s, but were largely built during the last half of the 1700s. The manor house and estate complex was owned by the Tanker family through three generations, from 1733 to 1829. In 1961, two foundations were established to maintain the historic property. Rød Manor Foundation (''Stiftelsen Rød Herregård'') is responsible for the manor house, buildings and gardens. Ankerske Foundation Collections (''Stiftelsen De Ankerske Samlinger'') is responsible for the contents and the rich archives related to the property.

References

Other sources

* Jostein Vormeland, ''Otto Tank – Pioneren fra Rød herregård'' (Oslo: Genesis Forlag. 1999) Norwegian * E.A.Thomle, ''Familien (von) Cappelen i Norge og Danmark'' (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen. 1896) Norwegian 1766 births 1832 deaths Government ministers of Norway Ministers of Finance of Norway Presidents of the Storting {{Norway-politician-1760s-stub