Jørgen Balthazar Winterfeldt (1 October 1732 - 22 July 1821) was a Danish naval officer and philanthropist. He was admiral from 1804 and was awarded the

Order of the Elephant The Order of the Elephant ( da, Elefantordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry and is Denmark's highest-ranked honour. It has origins in the 15th century, but has officially existed since 1693, and since the establishment of constitutional ...

in 1811. He established Winterfeldts Stiftelse at

Klerkegade Klerkegade ( lit. "Clergy Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark. The street runs from Borgergade in the east to Rigensgade in the west, passing Adelgade and Kronprinsessegade on the way. History Klerkegade originates in the 1649 ...

25 in

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 ...

in 1805. He was chief of the Naval Cadet Academy in from 1782 until 1792.

Early life

Winterfeldt was born in

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...

, the son of lieutenant ved Erik Winterfeldt (1697-1741) and Nille Winterfeldt née Dalhoff (1701-52).

Career

Winterfeldt served as

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

for Countess Reventlow in 1742 and became a cadet in 1743, Ge became a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in 1753. In 1755-56, he served onboard the frigate ''Christiansborg'' on a voyage to the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

. In 1757, he served on ''Nellebladet'' as part of a Danish-Swedish squadron in the North Sea. He became a first lieutenant in 1757 and a captain lieutenant in 1760. He served as second-in-command on the frigate ''Vildanden'' in 1760. In 1761-62, he served aboard the naval ship ''Grønland'' which transported Carsten Niebuhr's expedition to the Levant. In 1762-63, he served as commander of the guard ship station at Nyborg. In 1765, he served as second-in-command aboard ''St. Croix'' which was sent to Bergen in connection with the tension that resulted from the extra taxes and the division of the division of larger farms. He became a captain and adjudant at the Admiralty for C. C. Danneskiold-Laurvig in 1767. In 1772, he was freed from duty in the Navy to guard Queen Caroline Mathilde but she was ultimately sent to Calle. He became a captain commander in 1778. In 1779, he commanded the ship ''Indfødsretten'' on a voyage to Nordkap. He headed the Naval Cadet Academy in Copenhagen from 1781 to 1792. He became a commander in 1789, a counter admiral in 1796, vice admiral in 1799 and admiral in 1804.

Personal life

Winterfeldt married Maria Magdalene le Sage de Fontenay (ft. 23 March 1746 - 2 July 1820) on 19 April 1782 in the Holmen Church in Copenhagen. She was a daughter of commander Benjamin le Sage de Fontenay (1695-1749) and Maria Tigh (They) (1719-95). Winterfeldt and his wife had no children. They established Trøstens Bolig as a home for widows and unmarried women in 1805 as well as Den Winterfeldt- Vossiske stiftelse in Fredensborg. He was an honorary member of the Royal Danish Academy of Science. In 1812 the king charged him with writing the history of the Royal Danish Navy. Winterfeldt died on 22 July 1821. He is buried in the

Cemetery of Holmen Holmen Cemetery (Danish: Holmens Kirkegård) is the oldest cemetery still in use in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was first located next to the naval Church of Holmen in the city centre but relocated to its current site on Dag Hammarskjölds Allé in t ...

in Copenhagen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterfeldt, Jorgen Balthazar 18th-century Danish naval officers Danish admirals Royal Danish Naval Academy alumni Academic staff of Royal Danish Naval Academy People from Fredericia 1732 births 1821 deaths