Johannes Theodor(us) Suhr (2 April 1792 – 10 November 1858) was a Danish merchant and industrialist. He owned the Suhr House at

Gammeltorv Gammeltorv (Old Market) is the oldest square in Copenhagen, Denmark. With adjoining Nytorv it forms a common space along the Strøget pedestrian zone. While the square dates back to the foundation of the city in the 12th century, most of its build ...

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 ...

as well as Sølyst north of the city and was the founder of the foundation Den Suhrske Stiftelse.

Early life

Suhr was born into a wealthy family of merchants in

in 1792. His father was Ole Berendt Suhr, owner of J. P. Suhr & Søn, which had been founded by Johan Peter Suhr (1712–1785). The company traded in a wide range of products, including coal, salt,

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. It survived the difficult years during the war with England in the 1800s. Theodor Stuhr finished school and had plans to study theology.

Career

When their father died in 1815, he and his elder brother Didrik Suhr joined the management of the company which was formally owned by their mother until her death in 1842. The company went through a difficult period with the settlement of its activities 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 t ...

followed by an agricultural crisis but experienced new growth in the late 1820s and early 1830s. The company increasingly specialized in import of coal and iron from

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and

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 ...

. In the 1830s, J. P. Suhr & Søn had a market share of more than 20% of the Danish import of coal and it later grew to 33%. The company was also active as a money lender with ties to leading bankers in

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. In 1827, Suhr moved into the industrial sector when he leased the rolling mill in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

. He established a production of copper plates and installed the first large, Danish-built steam engine (20 jp) in 1828. In 1830, he acquired Brede Copper Mill (). In the 1850s, he sold those activities but continued to have investments in industrial enterprises such as Ørholm, Strandmøllen and M. P. Allerup. He had also investments in industrial enterprises abroad. When his mother died in 1842, Suhr became the sole owner of the company after buying out his brother and sisters. At this point he had an estimated net worth of 800,000

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were ofte ...

and by 1853 it had doubled to 1.6 million rigsdaler. In late 1855 he ceded the company to his nephew Ole Berendt Suhr (1813–1875) but remained active in it for another few years.

Property

In 1840, Suhr acquired the Schimmelmann family's country house Sølyst in

Klampenborg Klampenborg is a northern suburb to Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in Gentofte Municipality, directly on Øresund, between Taarbæk and Skovshoved. Like other neighbourhoods along the Øresund coast, Klampenborg is an affluent area with many ...

. He kept a large household and socialized with the cultural and political elite. Suhr acquired

Bonderup Bonderup, also known as Bonderupgård, is a manor house located south of Holbæk, Denmark. It was purchased by the merchant Johannes Theodorus Suhr in 1852 and is now owned by the Suhr Family Trust (Den Suhrske Stiftelse). History The first know ...

Holbæk Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).Merløsegaard in 1856.

Personal life

Christine Caroline Andrea Suhr née Falch

Suhr married Christine Caroline Andrea Falch on 30 March 1816 in the Church of the Holy Ghost in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of merchant and bank commissioner Andreas Falck and his wife Charlotte Sophie Suhr (1756–1822). The couple had no children. Suhr took active part in public life. He was a member of the Council of 32 Men from 1822 to 1835. He was active in the preparations for the first and was also active in in 1835. He was appointed to council of state in 1847. He constructed a summer residence at

, where he died in 1860. He is buried in

Gentofte Cemetery Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves f ...

. He left his fortune to a foundation, Den Suhrske Stiftelse. J. P. Suhr & Søn was dissolved in 1897 after selling its activities to A/S Det danske Kulkompagni.

References

External links

Den Suhrske Stiftelse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suhr, Theodor 1792 births 1858 deaths 19th-century Danish businesspeople Businesspeople from Copenhagen Danish merchants Danish industrialists Johannes Theodorus