Sophus Weidemann (31 December 1836 – 29 March 1894) was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist who contributed to the development of the shipping industry in Norway.

Biography

Weidemann was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of Frederik Sommerfeldt Weidemann (1803–75) and Nathalia Adelaide Major (1808–51). He was the grandson of judge

Lauritz Weidemann Lauritz Weidemann (27 November 1775 – 1 August 1856) was a Norwegian judge, civil servant and politician. He served as county governor for almost 35 years, participated at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814, and was a member of the ...

(1775–1856) and among his uncles was psychiatrist

Herman Wedel Major Herman Wedel Major (23 February 1814 – 26 September 1854) was a Norwegian psychiatrist. He is regarded as the father of the first Norwegian psychiatric hospital, Gaustad Hospital (''Gaustad sykehus'') and of the Norwegian Mental Health Act ...

(1814–1854). Weidemann received an education in engineering at the Naval Academy (''Sjøkrigsskolen'') at

Horten is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the town of Åsgårdstrand an ...

. In 1856, Weidemann was employed as a technical draftsman at

Bergen Mekaniske Verksted Bergen Mekaniske Verksted, later Bergens Mekaniske Verksteder, was a shipyard in Solheimsviken in Bergen, Norway. Established in 1855, it later also built a drydock in Laksevåg Laksevåg is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, ...

. From 1864 he was manager of the workshop Fabrikken ved Nidelven in Trondheim, the later ship building company

Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted or TMV was a major shipbuilding company in Trondheim, Norway. History It was founded in 1872 by engineer and industrialist, Sophus August Weidemann. Weidemann had started in 1864 as manager of one of the pioneer c ...

. Weidemann resigned his managerial position at Fabrikken in 1871. He then opened his own engineering office and became a technical consultant for Trondheim based steamship company, Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab until 1875. Weidemann was elected to Trondheim City Council in 1883 In 1884, he bought Rosenborg farm together with lawyer Karl Ludvig Bugge. The partners sold the parcel Bakkestranden to the municipality, while the rest of the area was divided up into residential plots and became the basis for the Trondheim neighborhood of Rosenborg. Weidemann retained the Rosenborg farm site where he and his wife lived the rest of their lives. He died at Trondheim in 1894.

References

1836 births 1894 deaths Engineers from Oslo 19th-century Norwegian engineers Politicians from Trondheim {{norway-engineer-stub