The Royal Greenland Trading Department ( da, Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel, KGH) 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 ...

state enterprise charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

. The company managed the

government of Greenland Naalakkersuisut ( en, Cabinet of Greenland, da, Grønlands Regering), is the chief executive body and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. An "autonomous territory" ( da, land) of the Kingdom of Denmark, ta ...

from 1774 to 1908 through its Board of Managers 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 ...

and a series of Royal Inspectors and

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Godthaab Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...

and

Godhavn Qeqertarsuaq () is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Copenhagen known as Arctic Station. ...

on Greenland. The company was headquartered at

Grønlandske Handels Plads (Kongelige) Grønlandske Handels Plads (English language, English: "(Royal) Greenland Dock") is a waterfront area at the end of Strandgade in the northwestern corner of the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is bounded b ...

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 ...

. Following the introduction of

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

in Greenland in 1979, the company was reformed into several successors, including the KNI conglomerate, the

Royal Greenland Royal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland, spun off from Kalaallit Niuerfiat in 1990 but still wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish processi ...

fishing company, and the Royal Arctic shipping company.

History

The Royal Greenland Trading Department was founded in 1774 as a successor to the failed

General Trade Company The General Trade Company ( da, Det almindelige Handelskompagni) was a Dano-Norwegian trading company charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in Greenland. The company existed from 1747 to 1774 and managed the government of Gre ...

(') which had previously managed the Dano-Norwegian whaling stations and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and

Moravian missions in Greenland The Moravian missions in Greenland ( kl, Qatanngutigiinniat; da, Brødremenigheden; german: Herrnhuters) were established by the Moravian Church or United Brethren and operated between 1733 and 1900. They were operated under the auspices of the R ...

. At first, it possessed a monopoly on trade near the Danish trading stations and missions but, in 1776, this was expanded to a monopoly on all trade in Greenland whatsoever between the 60th and 73d parallels north.Marquardt, Ole.
Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy
in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006. The change in protection led to a sharp downturn in new settlements and, after a brief abortive attempt to manage a government-owned Scandinavian whaling fleet, led the company to focus on trade with the local Inuit hunters. The

Instruction of 1782 The Royal Greenland Trading Department ( da, Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel, KGH) was a Danish state enterprise charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in Greenland. The company managed the government of Greenland from 17 ...

divided the colony into northern and southern halves, forbade senior management from intermarriage with native or racially mixed women and lower-ranking employees from intermarriage with native or European women,Seiding, Inge.
Colonial Categories of Rule – Mixed Marriages and Families in Greenland around 1800
. ''Kontur'', No. 22 (2011). and banned further attempts to urbanize the Inuit or alter their traditional way of life through improved employment opportunities or sales of luxury items. Large premiums were charged on goods such as sugar and coffee in order to prevent the Inuit from 'softening' and abandoning their demanding work. Edward Augustus Inglefield two European men Greenland 1854

Edward Augustus Inglefield two European men Greenland 1854

Repeated attempts to end the department's monopoly on trade were defeated, notably by an impassioned defense of the company's practices by its director

Hinrich Rink Dr. Hinrich Johannes Rink (first name sometimes as Henrik) (26 August 1819 – 15 December 1893) was a Danish geologist, one of the pioneers of glaciology, and the first accurate describer of the inland ice of Greenland. Rink, who first came to ...

, but local councils were established in 1857 with authority over one-fifth of each station's profits and the valuable trade in

cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is an uncommon mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. History Cryolite was first described in 1798 by Danish vete ...

extracted from

Ivigtut Ivittuut (formerly, Ivigtût) (Kalaallisut: "Grassy Place") is an abandoned mining town near Cape Desolation in southwestern Greenland, in the modern Sermersooq municipality on the ruins of the former Norse Middle Settlement. Ivittuut is one ...

was granted to a different company in 1864.Doody, Richard. ''The World at War''.
GREENLAND 1721 - 1953
. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. In 1908, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

took over general administration and, in 1912, the entire trading operation was brought under its supervision as well.

Fleet

The Royal Greenland Trading Department began with a gift of three ships from the king: the large frigate ''Kongens Gave'' ("King's Gift"), the smaller frigate ''Holsteinsborg'', and the galiot ''Den Gloende''.Fogsgaard.
Dansk hvalfangst i Nordatlanten 1771 - 1789
'. 2003. In 1776, its fleet consisted of the ''Bernstorff'', the ''Eichsted'', the ''Godthaab'', the ''Holsteinsborg'', the ''Island'', the ''Kongenshaab'', the ''Krag Juul Wind'', the ''Lovisenborg'', the ''Mariakirke'', the ''Sankt Croix'', the ''Sankt Peter'', the ''Schack Rathlau'', the ''Schimmelmann, Skatmester'', the ''Strat Davis'', and the ''Taasinge Slot''. The next year, only 10 vessels returned: the ''Bernstorff'', the ''Eichsted'', the ''Gregers Juul'', the ''Guldberg'', the ''Holsteinsborg'', the ''Kongenshaab'', the ''Krag Juul Wind'', the ''Schack Rathlau'', the ''Schack'', and the ''Schimmelmann, Skatmester''. In 1781, a royal order granted a number of privileges to crew members of the Royal Greenland fleet. They were made exempt from regular military service except for times of utter need. Furthermore, crew members were freed from any civil obligations, which included tax-free trading for personal provisioning before and after a voyage and a deferral of heritage fees for the families of crew members deceased during a voyage. The Department began purchasing its own trading vessels again in 1790. Ships operated by the trading department included the ''Mariane'', ''Tjalfe'', ''Godthaab'', ''Gertrud Rask'', ''Gustav Holm'', and ''Ceres''. From 1792, the armed vessel ''Dorothea'' served as a coastal patrol in northern Greenland in order to prevent illegal trading between the Inuit and foreign ships and to discourage whaling by other nations in the area. The department also operated the commercial whaler s/s ''Sonja'' between 1924 and 1958, with a six-year hiatus during World War II.

Disestablishment

The company's monopoly was finally ended in 1950,Royal Greenland.
Our History
". Accessed 27 August 2010. as the two halves of Greenland were reunited in preparation for the island's full integration with the Kingdom of Denmark, which occurred in 1953. The Home Rule Government was introduced in 1979 and gained control of the company in 1986,Dahl, Jens.
Saqqaq: An Inuit Hunting Community in the Modern World
'. Univ. of Toronto Press, 2000. renaming it

Kalaallit Niuerfiat KNI A/S or Greenland TradeGreenland Home Rule. "About Greenland:Resources and Industry". Accessed 30 Apr 2012. ( kl, Kalaallit Niuerfiat, da, Grønlands Handel) is a trading conglomerate in Greenland. It is the successor to the Royal Greenland ...

( Kalallisut: "Greenland Trade").Culture Greenland.
Preliminary Studies in KGH's Photo-Archive
". Accessed 2 May 2012. In 1992, it was reorganized into the KNI conglomerate.KNI.
''Kort historie om KNI''
Short History of KNI. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. The

fishing company was spun off in 1990, the

Royal Arctic Line Royal Arctic Line A/S (RAL) or Royal Arctic is a seaborne freight company in Greenland, wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. It was formed in 1993, and is headquartered in Nuuk. History Royal Arctic Line A/S was spun off as a company se ...

shipping company in 1993,Royal Arctic Lines.
Royal Arctic Line Ltd.: History
. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. and the

Pisiffik Pisiffik A/S is a chain of Greenlandic stores. The company is the largest privately owned commercial company in Greenland, and is a subsidiary jointly owned by NorgesGruppen, the Norwegian grocery wholesaling group, the Danish investment company K ...

retail chain in 2001.Pisiffik.
Om os
". Accessed 28 Aug 2010.

References

External links

* {{Chartered companies Defunct companies of Greenland Defunct companies of Denmark Former monopolies Chartered companies Trading companies Companies established in 1774 Companies disestablished in 1986 Danish overseas colonies Economic history of Denmark History of Greenland 18th century in the Danish colonial empire 18th century in Greenland 19th century in the Danish colonial empire 19th century in Greenland 20th century in the Danish colonial empire 20th century in Greenland 1774 establishments in Denmark 1986 disestablishments in Denmark Trading companies of Denmark Trading companies established in the 18th century

History

Fleet

Disestablishment

See also

References

External links