Niels Brock (19 March 1731 – 4 October 1802) 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. He funded the establishment of the first business school 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 ...

, which is now named

Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, usually referred to simply as Niels Brock, is a school of secondary education and post-secondary education in Copenhagen, Denmark. The school offers programmes within business and management including Voca ...

after him. The

Niels Brock House The Niels Brock House is a historic property located at Strandgade 36 in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The property comprises the former warehouse at Wildersgade 51 on the other side of the block as well as a number of s ...

, his former home on Strandgade in Copenhagen, is a listed building.

Career

Niels Brock was born to a merchant father in

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, he was employed in his uncle's office in

. Prompted by his father's death in 1754, he went back to Randers to settle his father's affairs but returned to Copenhagen in 1756 where he established a successful business with trade in linen and groceries. He traded within Denmark–Norway and with the

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(what today is

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and

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). He was also active as a broker and in insurance. Niels Brock was appointed to the Council of 32 Men by the king.

Personal life

In 1762, Niels Brock married Lene Bredahl, daughter of Randers mayor Nicolai Krag Bredahl. Lene Brock died in 1786 and the couple had no children. He constructed the

at 36 Strandgade in the

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 ...

neighbourhood of Copenhagen in 1780 and lived there until his death in 1802.

Legacy

At the event of his death in 1802, Niels Brock left an estate of 865,000 which was used for grants in Randers and Copenhagen. also received a sum for the establishment of a merchant school. This was done under the auspices of the Association for the Education of Young Merchants () in 1881 under the name .

Carl Frederik Tietgen Carl Frederik Tietgen (19 March 1829 – 19 October 1901) was a Danish financier and industrialist. He played an important role in the industrialisation of Denmark as the founder of numerous prominent Danish companies, many of which are still ...

, who was a member of the board of the foundation that administrated Brock's heritage, founded an advanced school of merchantry under the name in 1888. The two schools were merged under the name in 1908. In 1991, it changed its name to Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brock, Niels 18th-century Danish businesspeople 18th-century merchants Danish businesspeople in shipping Danish merchants People from Randers Businesspeople from Copenhagen 1731 births 1802 deaths