Jens Landmark (17 December 1811 – 9 July 1880) was a Norwegian military officer and politician. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, was the director of Kongsberg Weapons Factory from 1854 to 1880, invented the Landmark conversion and served both as mayor as well as three periods in the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

Personal life

He was born in Ulfsten''Landmarks gate'', street in Kongsberg
— hosted by Kongsberg municipality to Andreas Landmark and Jacobine Caroline Wind.Jens Landmark genealogy
/ref> His uncle was Nils Landmark, and he had several notable cousins, including Johan Theodor and Johan Widing Heiberg Landmark. He married Richarda Mathea Petrie Bruenech (1813–1854), who hailed from

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. Kongsberg has been a centre of silver mining, arms production and fo ...

Career

Jens Landmark first made a career in the

Norwegian Army The Norwegian Army () is the land warfare service branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Army is the oldest of the Norwegian service branches, established as a modern military organization under the command of the King of Norway in 1628. The ...

. He rose in the hierarchy, from cadet in 1827 to second lieutenant in 1831. He later became captain.Jens Landmark
— Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD) However, from 1838 he had a parallel career at the weapons factory Kongsberg Vaabenfabrik, a forerunner of

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) is one of three business units of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG) of Norway and a supplier of defence and space related systems and products, mainly anti-ship missiles, military communications, and command and we ...

. Originally going into apprenticeship as a surveyor, he got this job on a permanent basis in October 1840. On 1 November 1854 he became acting director, and was appointed director permanently on 26 May 1855. He succeeded Peder Christian Holst. Landmark personally constructed the Landmark conversion, a modification of the ''

kammerlader The ''Kammerlader'', or "chamber loader", was the first Norwegian breech-loading rifle, and among the first breech loaders adopted for use by an armed force anywhere in the world. A single-shot black-powder rifle, the ''kammerlader'' was operate ...

'' rifles to allow them to fire rim fire ammunition, as opposed to being caplock weapons. The model was used by the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

. During Landmark's time as director, the factory saw some significant progresses. In 1871 the

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

of the Randsfjord Railway Line from

Hokksund Hokksund is a town in the counties of Norway, county of Buskerud in Eastern Norway. It is the largest population center and administrative center of the municipalities of Norway, municipality of Øvre Eiker. The town is located upstream of the ...

to Kongsberg was completed, making transportation much easier. Also, new production demands, as the Remington (1867) and

Krag–Petersson The Krag–Petersson was the first repeating rifle adopted by the armed forces of Norway and was one of the first repeating rifles to be adopted as standard issue by a military force,

(1876) rifles were taken into use, led to expansions. In 1862 Landmark was elected to the

, representing the constituency of

. He was re-elected on two non-consecutive occasions, in 1868 and 1880. Both his father and uncle had been members of Parliament. On the local political level, Jens Landmark was mayor of Kongsberg in 1851 (

Sjur Aasmundsen Sexe Sjur Aasmundsen Sexe (14 August 1808 – 17 February 1888) was a Norwegian mineralogist and educator. Biography Sexe was from Ullensvang parish in Hordaland, Norway. He was the son of Aamund Sjursen Sexe (1769–1864) and Brita Torsteinsdatt ...

was mayor from January to March), 1853, 1856 and 1864, and deputy mayor in 1855 and 1861.Mayors of Kongsberg
— hosted by Kongsberg municipality In addition, he was still enrolled with the military, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 30 January 1864. In addition, he was proclaimed Knight of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1860, as well as Knight of the Swedish

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...

. Jens Landmark died in 1880 in Kongsberg. He was succeeded as factory director by

Ole Herman Krag Ole Herman Johannes Krag (7 April 1837 – 9 December 1916) was a Norwegian officer and firearms designer. Biography Ole H. J. Krag was born in Vågå, in Oppland county, Norway. Krag grew up in various locations where his father, Hans Peter Sc ...

. A street in Kongsberg was named for him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landmark, Jens 1811 births 1880 deaths Mayors of places in Buskerud People from Kongsberg Norwegian Army personnel Norwegian businesspeople Norwegian people of Swedish descent Knights of the Order of the Sword Members of the Storting 1880–1882 Members of the Storting 1868–1870 Members of the Storting 1862–1864