Nils Aall Krag (30 November 1863 – 12 February 1926) was a Norwegian businessman, inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of the firm, Krag Maskinfabrikk A/S, now a division of Pitney Bowes. Nils Krag was born at Risør in

Nedenes Nedenes is a village in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located in the southern part of Arendal, just north of the municipal border with Grimstad. The Norwegian County Road 420 runs through the village heading north ...

county, Norway. He was a son of politician

Peter Rasmus Krag Peter Rasmus Krag (12 May 1825 – 16 April 1891) was a Norwegian engineer captain in the Norwegian Army, chief-of-roads and politician. He sat as a member of the Parliament of Norway for several terms. His two brothers, Hans Hagerup Krag and Ol ...

. His father was a military engineer and member of the Norwegian Parliament. He was a brother of author Thomas Krag and poet Vilhelm Krag. He grew up in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

and attended

Kristiansand Cathedral School Kristiansand Cathedral School (''Kristiansand katedralskole Gimle''), known in Latin as ''Schola Christiansandensis'', is a high school in Kristiansand, Agder, Norway. It is the oldest high school on the southern coast of Norway, having been fo ...

(1881). In 1891, he was co-owner of Krag & Steen which was registered under the name of Nils A. Krag in 1896. The company was engaged in wholesale trade. Between 1903-04 the company started the production of mechanical products. Artist

Karl Uchermann Karl Uchermann (31 January 1855 – 15 October 1940) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator. He is best known for his portraits of animals, in particular dogs. He also painted altarpieces, and is credited for designing the world's first franking ...

designed the world's first practical franking machine during 1901 in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. In 1903, Uchermann and Krag received a patent on a postal franking machine. Together with Gustav Adolph Hansen, Krag developed the Krag-Hansen stamping machine (''Krag-Hansen-maskinen'') for which they received patents dating from 1904. Krag also received additional patents on the further development of the machine. In 1934, Den Norske Frankeringsmaskin was established for the purpose of marketing franking machines under an exclusive agreement with Krag Maskinfabrikk A/S. In 2000, the company was sold to Pitney Bowes Inc.

References

External links

Pitney Bowes Norge AS website
1863 births 1926 deaths People from Risør People educated at Kristiansand Cathedral School Norwegian company founders Norwegian industrialists Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour {{Norway-business-bio-stub