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 ...
-based
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 ...
clockmaker. He was a co-founder of the city's Clockmakers' Guild in 1755 and served as the guild's third
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in 1758–60. His workshop was located on Vimmelskaftet.
Biography
Mathiesen was born in 1696 in
Dollerup
Dollerup is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It lies from Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it ...
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
. It is not known where he was trained as a clockmaker but Gottorp was an important centre for artists and artisans at the time. He worked for clockmaker Christian Christensen in Hillerød in 1724. He was later by the crown charged with maintaining two large clockworks at the royal palaces. On 15 December 1724, he was accepted into the Smiths' Guild without having submitted a
masterpiece
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
.
Mathiesen established his own workshop on Vimmelskaftet. It developed into one of the largest of its kind in the country. In 1729–54, it employed 18 trained clockmakers and some 30 apprentices. In 1755, Mathiesen was a co-founder of the Clockmakers' Guild in Copenhagen. He served as the guild's third
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
in 1758–60. He specialized in
tower clock
Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...
s and
longcase clock
A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...
s.
Notable works
Buildings with Peter Mathiesen tower clocks include the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen (1737),
Frederiksberg Church
Frederiksberg Church (Danish: Frederiksberg Kirke) is the oldest church building in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 1734, it is built to an unusual octagonal design in Baroque style. It is situated at Frederiksberg ...
Åbenrå
Aabenraa (; , ; Sønderjysk: ''Affenråe'') is a town in Southern Denmark
The Region of Southern Denmark ( da, Region Syddanmark, ; german: Region Süddänemark, ; frr, Regiuun Syddanmark) is an administrative region of Denmark established ...
, St. Nicolas' Church in
Holbæk
Holbæk () is a town in Denmark and the seat of Holbæk municipality with a population of 29,608 (1 January 2022).Roskilde Cathedral in
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
(1741) He also made a donation of a clock for Grundhof Church in his home town.
The
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...
museum at Rungstedlund contains a Peter Mathiesen longcase clock.