The Bergen Greenland Company ( da, Det Bergen Grønlandske CompagnieOswalt, Wendell H.
Eskimos and Explorers
'. Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1999.) or Bergen Company (''Bergenkompagniet''Culture Greenland.

." Sisimiut Museum. Accessed 2 May 2012.) was a

Dano-Norwegian Dano-Norwegian ( Danish and no, dansk-norsk) was a koiné/ mixed language that evolved among the urban elite in Norwegian cities during the later years of the union between the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway (1536/1537–1814). It is from th ...

private corporation charged with founding and administering Danish-Norwegian colonies 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 ...

, as well as searching for any survivors from the former Norse settlements on the island. It operated from 1721 until its bankruptcy in 1727. Although the Bergen Company failed as a concern and both its settlements were destroyed and abandoned, it was ultimately successful in re-establishing sovereignty over

History

The Norwegian

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 ...

minister

Hans Egede Hans Poulsen Egede (31 January 1686 – 5 November 1758) was a Dano-Norwegian Lutheran missionary who launched mission efforts to Greenland, which led him to be styled the Apostle of Greenland. He established a successful mission among the Inui ...

established the company with $9,000 in capital from the Bergen merchants, $200 from the Danish-Norwegian king Frederick IV, and a $300 annual grant from the

Royal Mission College The College of Missions ( da, Missionskollegiet; la, Collegium de cursu Evangelii promovendo) or Royal Mission College (') was a Dano-Norwegian association based in Copenhagen which funded and directed Protestant missions under royal patronage. ...

.Doody, Richard. ''The World at War'':
GREENLAND 1721 - 1953
. The merchants hoped to find easily accessible mineral wealth or at least a Norwegian-like environment for agricultural production. Aid from the Mission College was aimed at spreading the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

among the long-lost Norsemen, who were presumed to still be

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

or to have lapsed from Christianity altogether. The company was granted broad powers to govern the peninsula (as it was then considered to be), to raise its own army and navy, to collect taxes, and to administer justice; the king and his council, however, refused to grant it monopoly rights to whaling and trade in Greenland out of a fear of antagonizing the Dutch.Marquardt, Ole.
Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy
in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006. Departing

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

on 2 May 1721, Egede led the ''Haabet'' and two other boatsMirsky, Jeannette.
To the Arctic!: The Story of Northern Exploration from Earliest Times
'. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998. to Baal's River (the modern Nuup Kangerlua) and, on 3 July, established Hope Colony (') on the Island of Hope (', modern

Kangeq Kangeq or Kangek ( Kalaallisut: "Promontory") is a former settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland. It is located on the same island that formed the first Danish colony on Greenland between 1721 and 1728. History As ...

) with his family and a few dozen colonists. His settlers were devastated by

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease, disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, ch ...

and most of the colonists returned home as quickly as they could; only Egede, his family, and a few others remained to welcome two supply ships in 1722. Egede's (now ship-borne) explorations found no Norse survivors along the western shore and future work was hampered by the two mistaken beliefs both prevalent at the time that the

Eastern Settlement The Eastern Settlement ( non, Eystribygð ) was the first and by far the larger of the two main areas of Norse Greenland, settled by Norsemen from Iceland. At its peak, it contained approximately 4,000 inhabitants. The last written record from t ...

would be located on Greenland's east coast (it was later established it had been among the fjords of the island's extreme southwest) and that a strait existed nearby communicating with the western half of the island. In fact, his 1723 expedition found the churches and ruins of the Eastern Settlement, but he considered them to be those of the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. At the end of the year, having found no Norse survivors after months of searching, he turned north to establish a whaling station on Nipisat Island and begin a mission among the

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...

. The whaling station was quickly burnt by the Dutch, whose better quality and lower-priced goods made the Bergen Company's trading operations impossible. The mission proved more successful and in 1724 Egede baptized his first child converts. The Bergen Company went bankrupt in 1727. King Frederick attempted to replace it with a royal colony by sending Major

Claus Paarss Major Claus Enevold Paarss (18 February 1683 – 26 May 1762) was a Danish military officer and official. Retired from service,Marquardt, Ole"Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy"in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Emp ...

and several dozen soldiers and convicts to erect a fortress for the colony in 1728, but this new settlement of Good Hope (Godthaab) also failed due to scurvy and the group was recalled in 1730. Subsequent corporate-led administrations of Greenland learned from the Bergen Company's failure and received both trading monopolies over the island and enough naval support to generally maintain them.

References

{{Authority control History of Greenland Defunct companies of Denmark Defunct companies of Norway Defunct companies of Greenland Chartered companies Trading companies of Denmark Companies established in 1721 Companies disestablished in 1727 Danish overseas colonies Denmark–Norway 1721 establishments in Europe 1727 disestablishments in Europe 18th century in the Danish colonial empire Trading companies established in the 18th century

History

See also

References