Henrik Adam Brockenhuus (30 May 1720 - 11 June 1803) was a Danish courtier, local administrator in
Zealand
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 ...
. He owned the estates of
Jungshoved,
Oremandsgaard
Oremandsgaard is a manor house and estate located seven kilometres south of Præstø, Vordingborg Municipality, in southeastern Denmark. The estate traces its history back to the 14th century, but the current main building is from 1933. Oremandsg ...
and
Nysø and serv as prefect (amtmand(
amtmand
__NOTOC__
The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most se ...
/stiftsamtmand) of Vordingborg Municipality from 1767 to 1776 and of the Diocese of Zealand from 1776 to 1787.
Early life
Brockenhuus was born in
Vang at
Hamar
Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...
in
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 the ...
, the son of colonel
Jørgen Otto Brockenhuus (1664–1728) and his second wife Bertha (Barte) Magdalene Brockenhuus (1684–1769). As a young man he became a close friend of crown prince Frederick (V).
Career and property
He was appointed to ''hofjunker'' in 1744, then stable master for the crown prince and squire (''kammerjunker'') in 1745 and finally chamberlain ('kammerherre'') in 1752.
In 1761, he purchased the estate of
Jungshoved and
Oremandsgaard
Oremandsgaard is a manor house and estate located seven kilometres south of Præstø, Vordingborg Municipality, in southeastern Denmark. The estate traces its history back to the 14th century, but the current main building is from 1933. Oremandsg ...
near
Præstø
Præstø () is a town with a population of 3,857 (1 January 2022) in Vordingborg Municipality in Region Sjælland on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'').
The islands of '' Maderne'', ''Storeholm'', and ''Lilleholm'' are part ...
from the king. A few years later he also purchased
Nysø Manor
Nysø Manor, located near Præstø in the southeast of the Danish island of Sealand, was built in 1673 for Jens Lauridsen, a local functionary. It now houses the Thorvaldsen Collection, a group of works by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, w ...
. In 1767, he was appointed to prefect (amtmand) of Vordingborg County and in 1776 he became prefect (''Stiftsamtmand'') of the Diocese of Zealand as well as curator of
Vemmetofte. He was appointed to ''entlediget'' in 1787.
Awards
In 1760, he was created a
Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog. In 1767, he was awarded the
Ordre de l'Union Parfaite
The Ordre de l'Union Parfaite was created by Queen consort Sophie Magdalene of Denmark and Norway on 7 August 1732 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of her happy marriage with King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway. It was given to both men ...
. In 1773, he was created a
Knight in the Order of the Elephant.
In 1760, he was awarded the title of ''Gehejmeråd''. Ub 1779, he was awarded the more prestigeous title of ''Gehejmekonferensråd''
Personal life
![Hedevig Sophie Elisabeth Holstein-Ledreborg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Hedevig_Sophie_Elisabeth_Holstein-Ledreborg.jpg)
In 1757, Brockenhus married to Hedevig Sophie Elisabeth Holstein-Ledreborg (1737-1786). She was a daughter of Datter af Lensgreve Johan Ludvig von Holstein-Ledreborg, til
Ledreborg
Ledreborg is a palatial mansion near Lejre, to the southwest of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand. Today's Baroque building was completed in 1746 by Minister of State Johan Ludvig Holstein (1694–1763) who commissioned J.C. Krieger to c ...
and Hedevig Christiansdatter Vind. They were the parents of two sons and a daughter. Their elder son Frederik Brockenhuus (1758-1846) settled with his Italian wife in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
where he served as Danish envoy. The younger son Johan Ludvig Brockenhuus (1759-1830) served as ''overhofmester''. The daughter Vibeke Margrethe Brockenhuus (1764-1836) was married to lord chamberlain and director of the
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
Adam Wilhelm von Hauch (1755-1838).
References
External links
Family tree
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brockenhuus, Henrik
18th-century Danish landowners
18th-century Danish nobility
Court of Frederick V of Denmark
Danish courtiers
Brockenhuus family
1720 births
1803 deaths