Abraham Lehn (10 May 1702 – 31 July 1757) was a Danish landowner. He owned the estates

Højbygård Højbygård is a manor house and estate located on the island of Lolland in southeastern Denmark. It has since 1825 belonged to members of the Lehn family. The current main building is from the 18th century but has been altered several times. Hist ...

, Fuglsang, Priorskov and

Berritsgård The Berritzgaard estate and manor house is one of the largest and best preserved manor houses on the island of Lolland in Denmark. The estate can be traced back to 1382, to its first owner, Markvard Pøiske. The estate developed from a village cal ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

as well as the

Lehn House The Lehn House (Danish language, Danish: Lehns Gård) is a historic townhouse on Strandgade in the Christianshavn neighbourhood of central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is also known as the Tordenskjold House (Danish language, Danish: Tordenskjolds Gå ...

and other property in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. He was also a collector of books, paintings and coins. He was the father of

Poul Abraham Lehn Poul Abraham Lehn (9 October 1732 – 24 October 1804), Baron of Lehn and Baron of Guldborgland, was a feudalism, feudal baron of the Danish nobility, Danish and Norwegian nobility and one of the greatest landowners of his time in Denmark. Biogr ...

Early life

Lehn was born in

, the son of wine merchant Abraham Lehn Sr. (1643–1709) and Cathrine Elisabeth Kreyer (died 1710). He and his brothers were brought up in the home of merchant Christian Schupp after their father's death in 1709. He was until 1717 taught at home by Peder Benzon Mylius (1689-1745). Mylius accompanied him on a Grand tour which took them to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Property

Lehn had inherited circa 200,000

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

from his father. He purchased

at auction in 1725, followed by Fuglsang and Priorskov in 1726 and finally Berritsgård in 1729. He took active part in the management of his estates. He had a reputation for being a fair and humane landlord. Lehn and his brother Johan Lehn (1705-1760) were ennobled by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

in 1731. He was also the owner of several properties in Copenhagen. He inherited the

Strandgade Strandgade () is one of the principal streets in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs along the full length of the neighbourhood, following the waterfront of the Inner Harbour, Copenhagen, Inner Harbour, from Christian's Ch ...

Christianshavn Christianshavn () 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 the city centre by the Inner Harbour, ...

from his father. He purchased Kanslergården in

Store Kannikestræde Store Kannikestræde is a street in the Old Town of Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Frue Plads to Købmagergade. Its history is closely associated with the University of Copenhagen and some of Copenhagen's oldest halls of residence are located in ...

but it was destroyed in the

Copenhagen Fire of 1728 The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of the 23rd of October 1728. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (me ...

. He did not rebuild it but instead sold the site.

Collector

Lehn was the owner of an extensive collection of books, paintings and coins. The collection had been founded on his journey abroad. He left a private library of 5,000 volumes of mainly historical and theological literature. It was for centuries part of the extensive library at Orebygård. His art collection consisted mainly of Dutch paintings, copperprint engravings and etchings.

Personal life

On 25 June 1737, Lehn married Sophie Amalie Edinger (21 March 1700–1768). She was the daughter of merchant Wilhelm Edinger (1659–1733) and Else Margrethe Michelbecker (1668–1720). Lehn and his wife had two children,

and Erikke Christine Lehn, He died at Berritsgård on 31 July 1757 and was buried at Majbølle Church.

References

External links

Abraham Lehn the Younger
at geni.com
Abraham Lehn's accounts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehn, Abraham 18th-century Danish landowners Danish art collectors 1702 births 1757 deaths Lehn family