Erich Erichsen (31 March 1752 – 7 January 1837) 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 a ...

merchant and

ship-owner A ship-owner is the owner of a merchant vessel (commercial ship) and is involved in the shipping industry. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freig ...

. He owned the trading house C. S. Blacks Enke & Co. from 1783. The

Erichsen Mansion The Erichsen Mansion (Danish: Erichsens Palæ) is a historic building located at Kongens Nytorv in central Copenahgen9, Denmark. It is now part of Danske Bank's headquarters. History Erich Erichsen's house The Erichsen Mansion was built for mer ...

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 ...

is named after him.

Early life and education

Erichsen was born 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 war and district commissioner and chamberlain Laurids Erichsen (1716–1756) and Charlotte Christiane von Westen (1724–1801). He completed a merchant's apprenticeship in Copenhagen.

Career

After completing his apprenticeship, Erichsen was employed in the Blach trading house. He became part of the management of the company after C. S. Blach's death in 1781. He married Blach's widow in 1783 and thus became the owner of the company that changed its name to C. S. Blachs Enke & Co. He was also involved in money lending. His ships brought spices and precious textiles home from the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

and transported grain from the Baltic countries to England. His fleet consisted of 13 ships in 1797. Erichsen's shipping enterprise encountered adversities after circa 1800. Several of his ships were captured by

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s. Erichsen responded by increasingly engaging in banking. He provided the Danish government with huge loans in 1808–1812 and again in 1819 and the 1820s. Erichsen's brother Peter Erichsen was a partner in the company for many years. His sons joined it in 1816. It went bankrupt in 1833. Erichsen was a member of

Danish Asiatic Company Danish Asiatic Company ( Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East India Company. It was granted a 40-year mon ...

's board of directors from 1783 to 1792. He was managing director of Speciesbanken from 1791 to 1813 and a member of the board of representatives of the National Bank from 1818 to 1825. He was a member of the Council of 32 Men in 1788–1806 and was president of Grosserer-Societet from its foundation in 1817. He was appointed to royal agent in 1782, council of state in 1812 and in 1831.

Property

Erichsen constructed the

Holmens Kanal Holmens Kanal is a short street in central Copenhagen. Part of the main thoroughfare of the city centre, it extends from Kongens Nytorv for one block to a junction with a statue of Niels Juel where it turns right towards Holmens Bro while the thro ...

in 1799–1801. He also constructed the country house Hellerupgaard to design by

Joseph-Jacques Ramée Joseph-Jacques Ramée (April 26, 1764 in Charlemont, France — May 18, 1842 at the Chateau de Beaurains, Noyon) was a French architect, interior designer, and landscape architect working within the neoclassicist idiom. He was a student of the ...

. In 1807, Blach & Co. owned a warehouse at present-day Bådsmandsstræde 6/Overgaden neden Vandet 51s in

Christianshavn Christianshavn (literally, "ingChristian's Harbour") is a neighbourhood in Copenhagen, Denmark. Part of the Indre By District, it is located on several artificial islands between the islands of Zealand and Amager and separated from the rest of th ...

and another warehouse at Christianshavns Voldgade 1-3/Overgaden oven Vandet 2 and 2 A.

References

External links

Erich Erichsen
at geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Erichsen, Erich 18th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Danish businesspeople Danish Asiatic Company people Danish bankers Danish merchants Danish businesspeople in shipping People from Odense 1762 births 1837 deaths