Heinrich Hirschsprung (7 February 1836 – 8 November 1908) 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 ...

tobacco manufacturer, arts patron and art collector most known for founding the

Hirschsprung Collection The Hirschsprung Collection (Danish: Den Hirschsprungske Samling) is an art museum located on Stockholmsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large colle ...

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 ...

, a museum dedicated to Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century.

Family and business life

Heinrich Hirschsprung was born into a family of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent in

. His father, Abraham Marcus Hirschsprun (1793–1871), had been born in Friedberg near

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

in 1783 but moved to Denmark where he opened a small tobacco business in Copenhagen's

Hotel D'Angleterre The Hotel d'Angleterre is one of the first deluxe hotels in the world. Situated in the heart of Copenhagen, Denmark, it is located on Kongens Nytorv opposite Charlottenborg, the Royal Opera and Nyhavn. While its history dates back to 1755, it ha ...

in 1826. Two years later, in 1827, he married Petrea Hirschsprung née Hertz (1804–1891), and they had six children.

Hirschsprung's disease Hirschsprung's disease (HD or HSCR) is a birth defect in which nerves are missing from parts of the intestine. The most prominent symptom is constipation. Other symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and slow growth. Symptoms usu ...

is named after their pediatrician son

Harald Hirschsprung Harald Hirschsprung (14 December 1830 – 11 April 1916) was a Danish physician who first described Hirschsprung's disease in 1886. Life and medical career Harald Hirschsprung was a native of Copenhagen. Hirschsprung chose to become a doctor i ...

(1830–1916) who first described it. Heinrich Hirschsprung and his brother Bernhard Hirschsprung (1834–1909) took over A.M. Hirschsprung & Sønner after their father in 1858. Under their leadership the business, now specializing in cigar making, grew rapidly. In 1866, they bought a piece of unused land at

Gammelholm Gammelholm ( lit. "Old Islet") is a predominantly residential neighbourhood in the city centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is bounded by the Nyhavn canal, Kongens Nytorv, Holmens Kanal, Niels Juels Gade and the waterfront along Havnegade. For cen ...

, an area which had been a naval site until 1859. There they built a modern factory for manufacturing cigars. It was designed by young architect Ove Petersen (1830–1892) in a Historicist style which was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture. Heinrich Hirschsprung married Pauline Elisabeth Jacobson (1845–1912) on 26 June 1864; she was the daughter of wholesaler Daniel Simon (1791–1858) and Friederiche Jacobson née Gerhardt (1811–1855). Heinrich and Pauline had five children: Ellen, Ivar, Åge, Robert, and Oskar. They had their first apartment on Højbro Plads in Copenhagen and subsequently a house on

Bredgade Bredgade ( lit. "Broad Street") is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden and Grønningen, it is one of the major stre ...

. They also had country homes in the north of

Sjælland Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

as well as in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Art collection and artist friends

Hirschsprung began his art collection in 1866, with the purchase of a painting by

Julius Exner Johan Julius Exner, (30 November 1825 – 15 November 1910), Danish genre painter, was born in Copenhagen to Johann Gottlieb Exner, a Czech musician from Bohemia, who came to Denmark during the Napoleonic period, and his wife Karen Jørgensdat ...

(1825–1910). His collection expanded over the years with additional purchases of paintings by contemporary Danish artists. It was a modern collection of examples from the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters ( da, Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scen ...

, the Funen Artists, (''Fynboerne'') and

Symbolists Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

. Hirschsprung was a great supporter, both personal and economic, of P.S. Krøyer who met him through

Frants Henningsen Frants Peter Diderik Henningsen (22 June 1850, Copenhagen – 20 March 1908, Copenhagen) was a Danish painter, illustrator and professor. His paintings depict unfortunate occurrences in the lives of middle-class people living in Copenhagen during ...

, (1850–1908), a mutual friend at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

(''Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi''). Hirschsprung admired Krøyer’s artistic talent and skills, and he purchased the first paintings from him in 1874 — four watercolors from

Hornbæk Hornbæk () is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Sjælland, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km north-west of Helsingør, and is ...

. They continued a lifelong friendship. Hirschsprung helped finance Krøyer’s travels and foreign residence during the years 1877-1881, giving him the economic support needed to develop his artistic skills. Krøyer was a friend of the entire family. He carried on a personal correspondence with Pauline and made a number of family portraits of Heinrich, Pauline and their children. In addition to P.S. Krøyer, their homes were gathering places for such other contemporary artists as authors

Holger Drachmann Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann (9 October 1846 – 14 January 1908) was a Danish poet, dramatist and painter. He was a member of the Skagen artistic colony and became a figure of the Scandinavian Modern Breakthrough Movement. Early yea ...

(1846–1908),

Herman Bang Herman Joachim Bang (20 April 1857 – 29 January 1912) was a Danish journalist and author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough. Biography Bang was born in Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar ...

(1857–1912) and

Henrik Pontoppidan Henrik Pontoppidan (24 July 1857 – 21 August 1943) was a Danish realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short ...

(1857–1943) and painters

Wilhelm Marstrand Nicolai Wilhelm Marstrand (24 December 1810 – 25 March 1873), painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith. Marstrand is one of the most renowned ar ...

(1810–1873),

Frederik Vermehren Johan Frederik (Frits) Nikolai Vermehren, also known as Frederik Vermehren (12 May 1823 – 10 January 1910), a genre and portrait painter in the realist style. His artistic career took place during the period of Danish art known as the Golden ...

(1823–1910),

Otto Bache Otto Bache (21 August 1839 – 28 June 1927) was a Danish Realist painter. Many of his works depict key events in Danish history. Biography At age eleven he received a dispensation and was admitted into the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, ...

(1839–1927),

Kristian Zahrtmann Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, (31 March 1843 – 22 June 1917) was a Denmark, Danish Painting, painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and ...

(1843–1917) as well as

The Hirschsprung Collection

In 1902, Hirschsprung announced plans to donate his collection of art the works to the state. Heinrich Hirschsprung died during 1908 and was buried at

Mosaisk Vestre Begravelsesplads Mosaisk Vestre Begravelsesplads is a Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen. Notable interments * Victor Borge (1909–2000), US/Danish conductor, pianist, and comedian. Part of his ashes are buried here, the remainder at Putnam Cemetery, Greenwich, Conne ...

in Copenhagen. The museum was established in 1911 by his widow Pauline Hirschsprung.

The Hirschsprung Collection The Hirschsprung Collection (Danish: Den Hirschsprungske Samling) is an art museum located on Stockholmsgade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large colle ...

(''Den Hirschsprungske Samling'') opened with 45 paintings, 13 pastels, 205 drawings, 14 watercolors, 12 busts, 55 sketchbooks as well as P.S. Krøyer’s letters and documents. The collection has grown since then, and the museum continues to this day in a beautiful park setting near central Copenhagen, around the corner from the National Gallery (''

Statens Museum for Kunst The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and han ...

'').

References

External links

Den Hirschsprungske Samling website

The story of P.S. Krøyer and Heinrich Hirschsprung (in Danish), with Hirschsprung family portraits by Krøyer.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschsprung, Heinrich Danish industrialists 19th-century Danish businesspeople Danish businesspeople in the tobacco industry Danish philanthropists Danish art collectors Businesspeople from Copenhagen Danish Jews Danish people of German-Jewish descent 1836 births 1908 deaths