Theodor Wilhelm Wessel (27 February 1842 – 31 July 1905) 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 ...

businessman. He is remembered as one of the two founders of the

Magasin du Nord Magasin is a Danish chain of department stores. It has seven department stores with its flagship store located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The company is a subsidiary of the German department store retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf, Ma ...

chain of department stores.

Early life and education

Wessel was born on 27 February 1842 in Odense, the elder of two sons of customs assistant Herman Hinrich Wessel (1802–78) and Wilhelmine Rasmussen (1810–1865). His father's family had originally come to Denmark from Vremen and was thus unrelated to the other Danish Werssel family originating in Norway (cf.

Peter Wessel Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the rank ...

Johan Herman Wessel Johan Herman Wessel (6 October 1742 – 29 December 1785) was an 18th-century Danish-Norwegian poet, satirist and playwright. His written work was characterized by the use of parody and satiric wit. Biography Wessel was born and raised at Vest ...

). Aged 14 Wessel was apprenticed to L. J. Baagøe, who operated a substantial linnen and drapery business in association with a grocery shop in Svendborg. Wessel's younger brother Peter (Pedro) Wessel (27 September 1851 – 8 February 1921) emigrated to Chile in 1976, where he established his own trading house in

Caracoles Caracoles was a small, but important town dedicated to the mining of the silver resources located in Carmen Gloria Bravo Quezada, ''La flor del desierto. Caracoles y su impacto sobre la economía chilena'', Ediciones de la Dirección de Bibliotec ...

Career

On completing his apprenticeship in 1864, Wessel was employed as a travelling salesman by M. E. Grøn & Søn in Copenhagen. In 1867, he went on a journey to England and France, where he visited the '' Exposition Universelle'' in Paris. The impressions from this journey made him decide to start his own business. When he shortly thereafter met Emil Vett on a random visit to

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, the two businessmen decided to join forces, on 14 April 1868 starting a small linnen and drapery business under the name Emil Vett & Co.. Vett was in the beginning responsible for the daily operations while Wessel for the first few years was employed as a travelling purchaser for I. H. Ruben in Copenhagen, but with a right also to act on behalf of his own venture on his journeys abroad. In 1870, Emil Vett & Co. opened a branch in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

, soon followed by branches in other provincial towns. The wholesale operations was at the same time moved to Copenhagen as an independent firm under the name Th. Wessel & Co. with Wessel as management. In 1872,Th. Wessel & Co. relocated from Østergade to Hotel du Nord's building on Kongens Nytorv and the name was at the same time changed to De forenede Hvidevare Forretninger ved Th. Wessel & Co.. Both firms continued to grow rapidly. In 1876, when Vett joined Wessel in Copenhagen, Th. Wessel & Co. was renamed Th. Wessel & Vett. On 4 January 1879, Magasin du Nord was introduced as the brand name of all their retail outlets across the country. In 1889, Th. Wessel & Vett acquired the building next to Hotel du Nord. In 1890, it also purchased the hotel building. In 1892–93, both buildings were demolished to make way for a new department store. In the late 1880s, Th. Wessel & Vett also constructed its own textile factory in Landskronagade while seamstress floors and other workshops were established both in-house and in other locations across Copenhagen. In 1898, a furniture factory was constructed next to the textile factory in Landskronagade. On 10 November 1899, Th. Wessel & Vett was converted into a limited company ('' aktueseksjab''). Wessel was from then on a member of the board while the daily operations were left in the hands of the directors.

Personal life

On 24 October 1868, Wessel married Elise Margarethe Christiane Sørenson (29 December 1849 – 8 May 1933), daughter of merchant Hans Jordt Sørensen (1815–1909) and Charlotte Amalie Martini (1824–55), with whom he had two daughters. He constructed a villa in

Taarbæk Taarbæk is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality. The neighbourhood covers approximately 0.5 km2, located between Jægersborg Dyrehave and Øresund. The population is estimated to ca. 1700 residents. Traditionally, Taarbæk was a fi ...

to designs by the architect Johan Schrøder. Schrøder had also designed the textile factory in Landskronagade. Wessel is one of the men seen in Peder Severin Krøyer's monumental 1895 oil on canvas group portrait painting ''

From Copenhagen Stock Exchange ''From Copenhagen Stock Exchange'' () is a monumental 1895 oil on canvas group portrait painting by Peder Severin Krøyer, featuring 50 representatives of the Danish commercial and financial industries gathered in the Great Hall of Børsen (the Ex ...

'' (

Børsen Børsen (Danish for "the Exchange"), also known as Børsbygningen ("The (Stock) Exchange building" in English), is a 17th-century stock exchange in the center of Copenhagen. The historic building is situated next to Christiansborg Palace, the seat ...

). Krøyer has also painted a study of the detail with Wessel and Vatt in 1893 (Magasin du Nord). Otto Bache painted a portrait painting of Wessel in 1890 ( Frederiksborg Castle).

Ludvig Brandstrup Ludvig Brandstrup (16 August 1861 – 13 May 1935) was a Danish sculptor. He is remembered above all for his Christian IX statue, Esbjerg, equestrian statue of Christian IX in Esbjerg but was also one of the most competent portraitists of his day ...

has created a portrait bust of him (Magasin du Nord). Wessel died on 31 July 1905 in Taarbæk and is buried in the local Taarbæk Cemetery. His grave monument was created by Søren Lemche.

Accolades

Wessel was created a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1888 and was awarded the Cross of Honour in 1904.

References

Rxternal links

Theodor Wessel
at geni.com
Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessel, Theodor 19th-century Danish businesspeople 20th-century Danish businesspeople Danish businesspeople in retailing Danish company founders People from Odense Businesspeople from Copenhagen Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Cross of Honour of the Order of the Dannebrog 1842 births 1905 deaths