Niels Andersen (11 September 1835 – 12 September 1911) was a Danish businessman and politician. He created the first large construction company in Denmark. He served as the first president of the Confederation of Danish Employers from 1896 to 1907. He owned Sæholm in

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

from 1877.

Early life and education

Andersen was born on a farm at Ydby,

Thisted County Thisted County () is a former province in Denmark, located on the north-westernmost part of the country It encompassed the westernmost part of the island of Vendsyssel-Thy. It was dissolved in 1970 when the bulk of it was merged into Viborg Count ...

, the son of Anders Nielsen (1794–1862) and Ane Margrethe Didriksdatter (1797–1857). The farm was small and his father therefore had to supplement his income by transporting stone and gravel for the county's road construction. From an early age, Andersen had to take part in this work. He received no formal schooling but worked hard to acquire knowledge at home, strongly encouraged by his mother, and attended the writing school for

petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have ...

s during his

Conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

years as a dragoon in 1855–57.

Career

Straight out of the army he started a small construction company. In 1862 he successfully took on the construction of the new Hillerød-Fredensborg railway. After being redrafted during the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War (; or German Danish War), also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War, was the second military conflict over the Schleswig–Holstein question of the nineteenth century. The war began on 1 Februar ...

, his company grew rapidly from a number of other contracts on rail lines; The South Zealand Railway to

Køge Køge (, older spelling ''Kjøge'') is a Danish seaport on the coast of Køge Bugt (''Bay of Køge'') 39 km southwest of Copenhagen. It is the principal town and seat of Køge Municipality, Region Sjælland (Zealand), Denmark. In 2025, the ...

(1869–70),

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

- Hassleholm with a Bjuv-Billesholm branch (1873–74),

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

-Ryomgård (1876–78), Gribskov Railway (1879),

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Hadsund Hadsund () is a town in the eastern part of Jutland with a population of 4,918 (1 January 2025; 5,356 incl. Hadsund South). The town is located by the narrow strait of ''Hadsund,'' along an inlet of the Mariager Fjord. It is situated south of th ...

(1882–84) and the Gedser Railway (1886), He also worked on the expansion of Helsingør Garbour in 1879–81 and the construction of the Strandvejen Steam Tram Line 1883. In 1887, he began a partnership with N. C. Monberg. He left the company in 1899.

Politics, organisations and public offices

Andersen was involved in politics from an early age, He was especially committed to the defence agenda and was a board member of the 1884 founded organisation iværksatte selvbeskatning til forsvarssagens fremme. He was involved in the construction of the Garderhøj Fort as well as the acquisition of land for the rest of the new fortification ring. He was also elected for the Parliament (Rigsdagen) in

Nykøbing Mors Nykøbing Mors is the largest town on the island of Mors in the Limfjord in Denmark. The town received its charter in 1299 and has a population of 8,859, as of 1 January 2025.

. He lost his seat at the 1884 election but was 28 September 1886 reelected at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in his home town. He transferred to the Thisted constituency in 1903 where he was elected until giving up his seat in 1909. He was associated Højre but was often in opposition to Minister of Transportation Hans Peter Ingerslev on railway matters. This led to Venstre electing him to spokesperson in connection with the preparations of the State Railways Act in 1891–92. Andersen was also chairman of the Parish Council (sognerådsformand) in Gentofte from 1889 to 1900 and a member of the County Council (amtsrådsmedlem) in 1889–1910. He was strongly involved in the establishment of Arbejdsgiverforeningen af 1896) in 1896 and its later expansion into Dansk Arbejdsgiver- og Mesterforening in 1898. He wanted the organisation to become a future bulwark against conflict between worker and employer and was involved in the September Settlement which ended the 1899 Great Lockout. He resigned as president of Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening on 8 May 1907 and was the following year appointed as honorary member. Andersen was also chairman of Entreprenørforeningen, Arbejdsgivernes Ulykkesforsikring, Danske Lloyd, Bankrådet for Laane- og Diskontobanken, and a member of overskatterådet.

Personal life

Andersen married Thora Amalie Husen (22 April 1845 - 16 July 1917/ on 20. April 1866. In 1877, Andersen acquired the country house Søholm on the northern shores of Lake Emdrup (then Lundehussøen). In 1903, he gifted a plantation to his home town Boddum-Ydby. The residents erected a monument to his honour. One of his daughters, Dagmar Theresia Rasmussen, married the polar explorer

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies) ...

References

External links

Niels Andersen
at geni.com
Pictures of grave at Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Niels 19th-century Danish businesspeople 20th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Danish politicians 20th-century Danish politicians People from Thisted Municipality Burials at the Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen 1835 births 1911 deaths