The Royal Greenland Trading Department ( da, Den Kongelige Grønlandske Handel, KGH) was a Danish

state enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

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 ...

. The company managed the government of Greenland 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 a ...

and a series of Royal Inspectors and Governors in

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 cou ...

and Godhavn on Greenland. The company was headquartered at Grønlandske Handels Plads at

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 t ...

. 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 wi ...

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 process ...

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 (') 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 ...

and Moravian missions in Greenland. 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 divided the colony into

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

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