Erich Erichsen (31 March 1752 – 7 January 1837) was a Danish merchant and

ship-owner A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a ship. They can be merchant vessels involved in the sea transport, shipping industry or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and expl ...

. He owned the trading house C. S. Blacks Enke & Co. from 1783. The Erichsen Mansion 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 ...

is named after him; the building served as headquarters of

Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S (, ) is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail custome ...

, Denmark's largest bank, until the headquarters was moved in 2023.

Early life and education

Erichsen was born in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

, the son of war and district commissioner and chamberlain Laurids Erichsen (1716–1756) and Charlotte Christiane von Westen (1724–1801). He completed a merchant's apprenticeship in Copenhagen.

Career

After completing his apprenticeship, Erichsen was employed in the Blach trading house. He became part of the management of the company after C. S. Blach's death in 1781. He married Blach's widow in 1783 and thus became the owner of the company that changed its name to C. S. Blachs Enke & Co. He was also involved in money lending. His ships brought spices and precious textiles home from the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

and transported grain from the Baltic countries to England. His fleet consisted of 13 ships in 1797. Erichsen's shipping enterprise encountered adversities after circa 1800. Several of his ships were captured by

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

s. Erichsen responded /by increasingly engaging in banking. He provided the Danish government with huge loans in 1808–1812 and again in 1819 and the 1820s. Erichsen's brother Peter Erichsen was a partner in the company for many years. His sons joined it in 1816. It went bankrupt in 1833. Erichsen was a member of

Danish Asiatic Company Danish Asiatic Company (Danish language, Danish: Asiatisk Kompagni) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish trading company established in 1730 to revive Danish-Norwegian trade on the Danish East Indies and China following the closure of the Danish East Ind ...

's board of directors from 1783 to 1792. He was managing director of Speciesbanken from 1791 to 1813 and a member of the board of representatives of the National Bank from 1818 to 1825. He was a member of the Council of 32 Men in 1788–1806 and was president of

Grosserer-Societetet The ('Wholesalers' Society') was a society for wholesale merchants in Copenhagen founded by law in 1742. After 1714, it was possible to acquire citizenship as a wholesaler in the city. was reorganized in 1817. In 1987 the association was replace ...

from its foundation in 1817. He was appointed to royal agent in 1782, council of state () in 1812 and in 1831.

Property

Erichsen constructed the Erichsen Mansion at

Holmens Kanal Holmens Kanal is a short street in central Copenhagen. Part of the main thoroughfare of the city centre, it extends from Kongens Nytorv for one block to a junction with a statue of Niels Juel where it turns right towards Holmens Bro while the thr ...

in 1799–1801. He also constructed the country house

Hellerupgård Hellerupgård, namesake of the district Hellerup as well as the street Hellerupgårdsvej, is a former country house situated at Hellerupgårdsvej 20 in Gentofte Municipality north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The main building from 180203 was designed ...

to design by

Joseph-Jacques Ramée Joseph-Jacques Ramée (April 26, 1764 in Charlemont, France — May 18, 1842 at the Chateau de Beaurains, Noyon) was a French architect, interior designer, and landscape architect working within the neoclassicist idiom. He was a student of the a ...

. In 1807, Blach & Co. owned a warehouse at present-day Bådsmandsstræde 6/Overgaden neden Vandet 51s in

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, ...

and another warehouse at Christianshavns Voldgade 1-3/Overgaden oven Vandet 2 and 2 A.

References

External links

Erich Erichsen
at geni.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Erichsen, Erich 18th-century Danish businesspeople 19th-century Danish businesspeople Directors of the Danish Asiatic Company Danish bankers Danish merchants Danish businesspeople in shipping People from Odense 1752 births 1837 deaths Merchants from Denmark–Norway