Peter Frederik (Friderich) Wulff (26 November 1774–2 February 1842) 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 ance ...

naval officer. He headed the Royal Danish Naval Academy from 1824 to 1841. Wulff, his wife Henriette Wulf, and several of his children were loyal friends and supporters of the writer

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...

Early life

Wulff was born on 26 November 1774 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 ...

, the son of

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

and later commander Frederik Christian Wulff (1749–1812) and Kirstine Johansen (1755–1829). He was the elder brother of Christian Wulff.

Career

Wulff enrolled as a voluntary cadet in 1780 and became a cadet in 1788. He was awarded Gerner's medal in 1793 and became a second lieutenant in 1794. In 1797–98, he visited the Danish West Indies on board the frigate ''Iris''. In 1799 he became a first lieutenant. In 1799-1801, he served on the frigate in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. Back in Denmark, in 1802, he participated in cartographic surveys in the Little Belt and served on the ship in 1803. He was commander of the brig in 1804. In 1806, he was appointed to second-in-command of the Naval Cadet Corps. In 1807, he served as commander of the brig '' Lougen'' at

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 ...

where he fought off the Royal Navy brig '' Childers'' and captured ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

''. He was promoted to captain-lieutenant in 1808 and returned to his position at the Royal Cadet Academy ship in 1809. In 1810, he was commander of the naval training ships ''Tigress'' and ''Lolland''. In 1811, he was commander of the gunboats at

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, Langeland and

Ærø Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region. Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities o ...

. In 1812 his gunboats assisted a wrecked Russian frigate at Gedser. He reached the rank of captain in 1813. In 1813–19 and again in 1820–23, he served as commander of the naval training brigs and . In 1824, he was commander of the naval training frigate , which transported Prince Christian Frederik (Christian VIII) to

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, leading to a controversy with counter admiral H. C. Sneedorff who wanted to command the ship while the prince was aboard. Wulff replaced Sneedorff as head of the Royal Cadet Academy that same year. He reached the rank of in 1825 and commander in 1834. He was appointed to and in 1839. He was appointed to counter admiral in 1840 and retired from the Royal Cadet Academy in 1841.

Personal life

Wulff married Henriette Weinholdt (12 October 1784 - 5 September 1836) in 1803. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. Their two sons,

Jørgen Peter Frederik Wulff Jørgen Peter Frederik Wulff (6 April 1808 – 8 March 1881) was a Danish naval officer. Early life Wulff was born on 6 April 1808 in Slagelse, the son of Peter Frederik Wulff and Hanne Henriette Wulff née Weinholdt (1784-1836). His paternal ...

and Christian Wulff, both followed in their father's footsteps as naval officers. Their elder daughter, Henriette Wulff, drowned when the ''

SS Austria SS ''Austria'' was a steamship of the Hamburg America Line which sank on 13 September 1858, in one of the worst transatlantic maritime disasters of the nineteenth century, claiming the lives of 449 passengers and crew. The ''Austria'' was built ...

'' sank in 1858. Their younger daughter, Ida Wulff, married the architect

Jørgen Hansen Koch Jørgen Hansen Koch (4 September 1787 – 30 January 1860) was a Neoclassical Danish architect. He was chief of the national Danish building administration from 1835 and director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1844 to 1849. K ...

. Wulff's home was frequented by a number of cultural figures of the

Danish Golden Age The Danish Golden Age ( da, Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffered ...

. Wulff was introduced to a young

and remained a loyal friend and supporter for the rest of his life. Wulff completed P. Foersom's translation of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's plays and also translated

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

and G. C. Byron.

References

External links

Peter Frederik Wulff
at geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wulff, Peter Frederik 19th-century Danish naval officers Royal Danish Navy counter admirals Royal Danish Naval Academy alumni Academic staff of Royal Danish Naval Academy 1774 births 1842 deaths Danish military commanders of the Napoleonic Wars

Early life

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links