Carsten Tank (24 April 1766 – 28 January 1832) was a Norwegian businessman and politician who served as Norwegian councilor of government of the 1st Ministry (finance and taxes, March–November 1814), and later councilor of state of the same ministry.

Biography

Carsten Tank was born at Rød Herregård, the family estate at

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

County, Norway. Carsten Tank belonged to a branch of a wealthy timber merchant family. Carsten Tank's grandfather, Carsten Nielsen Tank was a merchant and acquired Rød Herregård in 1733. His parents were Nils Carstensen Tank (1725–1801) and Sophie Cathrine Leuch (1740–1778). Carsten Tank was a merchant and ship owner as well as being involved in the timber trade. He came to own numerous properties, a tobacco factory, several sawmills and large forests. He lost his fortune and in December 1829 had to file for bankruptcy.

Personal life

Carsten Tank was married first to Bartha Sophie Leth (d. 1795) from Halden, and secondly to Catherine von

Cappelen Cappelen is a Norwegian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cappelen (family), a distinguished Norwegian family * Andreas Zeier Cappelen (1915–2008), Norwegian jurist and politician * August Cappelen (1827–1852), Norwegian pai ...

(1772–1837), sister of Didrich von Cappelen (1761–1828), who was the deputy for

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

to the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

in 1814 which established the

Constitution of Norway The 'Constitution of Norway'' (complete name: The Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway; Danish language, Danish: ; Norwegian language, Norwegian Bokmål: ; Nynorsk, Norwegian Nynorsk: ) was adopted on 16 May and signed on 17 May 1814 by the N ...

. His son, Nils Otto Tank (1800–1864) was the noted

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

missionary to the Dutch colony of

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. His daughter, Petronelle Didrikke Cathrine, (died 1833) who married Peter Martin Anker inherited the family estate Rød Herregård.

Rød Herregård

Rød Herregård in Halden is one of the best preserved

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

s in Norway. The property features well-preserved buildings, a

Baroque garden The Baroque garden was a style of garden based upon symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The style originated in the late-16th century in Italy, in the gardens of the Vatican and the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome and in the ...

and an English landscape garden. Some of the earliest buildings have their origins in the late 1600s, but others were largely built during the last half of the 1700s. The manor house and estate complex was owned by the Tank family through three generations, from 1733 to 1829. In 1961, two foundations were established to maintain the historic property. Rød Manor Foundation (''Stiftelsen Rød Herregård'') is responsible for the manor house, buildings and gardens. Ankerske Foundation Collections (''Stiftelsen De Ankerske Samlinger'') is responsible for the contents and the rich archives related to the property.

References

Other sources

* Jostein Vormeland, ''Otto Tank – Pioneren fra Rød herregård'' (Oslo: Genesis Forlag. 1999) Norwegian * E.A.Thomle, ''Familien (von) Cappelen i Norge og Danmark'' (Christiania: J. W. Cappelen. 1896) Norwegian 1766 births 1832 deaths Government ministers of Norway Ministers of finance of Norway Presidents of the Storting Members of the Storting 1821–1823 Members of the Storting 1815–1817 {{Norway-politician-1760s-stub