The Royal Greenland Trading Department (, KGH) was a Danish

state enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. The company managed the

government of Greenland The Naalakkersuisut or the Government of Greenland () is the chief executive body, the cabinet and the government of Greenland since the island became self-governing in 1979. As an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is a p ...

from 1774 to 1908 through its Board of Managers 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 ...

and a series of Royal Inspectors and

Governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Godthaab Nuuk (; , formerly ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Greenland, most populous city of Greenland, an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of Government of Greenland, government an ...

and

Godhavn Qeqertarsuaq (, historically known as Godhavn) is a port and town in Qeqertalik municipality, located on the south coast of Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland. Founded in 1773, the town is now home to a campus of the University of Cope ...

on Greenland. The company was headquartered at

Grønlandske Handels Plads (Kongelige) Grønlandske Handels Plads (English language, English: "(Royal) Greenland Dock") is a waterfront area at the end of Strandgade in the northwestern corner of the Christianshavn neighbourhood of Copenhagen, Denmark. The area is bounded ...

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, ...

. Following the introduction of

home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

in Greenland in 1979, the company was reformed into several successors, including the KNI conglomerate, the

Royal Greenland Royal Greenland A/S is a fishing company in Greenland, spun off from Kalaallit Niuerfiat in 1990 but still wholly owned by the Government of Greenland. The company operates in a number of towns and settlements in Greenland, with 20 fish proce ...

fishing company, and the Royal Arctic shipping company.

History

The Royal Greenland Trading Department was founded in 1774 as a successor to the failed

General Trade Company The General Trade Company () was a Dano-Norwegian trading company charged with administering the realm's settlements and trade in Greenland. The company existed from 1747 to 1774 and managed the government of Greenland from 1749. History The Gener ...

(') which had previously managed the Dano-Norwegian whaling stations and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Moravian missions in Greenland The Moravian missions in Greenland (; ; ) were established by the Moravian Church or United Brethren and operated between 1733 and 1900. They were operated under the auspices of the Royal Danish College of Missions until its dissolution in 1859 an ...

. At first, it possessed a monopoly on trade near the Danish trading stations and missions but, in 1776, this was expanded to a monopoly on all trade in Greenland whatsoever between the 60th and 73d parallels north.Marquardt, Ole.
Change and Continuity in Denmark's Greenland Policy
in ''The Oldenburg Monarchy: An Underestimated Empire?''. Verlag Ludwig (Kiel), 2006. The change in protection led to a sharp downturn in new settlements and, after a brief abortive attempt to manage a government-owned Scandinavian whaling fleet, led the company to focus on trade with the local Inuit hunters. The Instruction of 1782 divided the colony into

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

and southern halves, forbade senior management from intermarriage with native or racially mixed women and lower-ranking employees from intermarriage with native or European women,Seiding, Inge.
Colonial Categories of Rule – Mixed Marriages and Families in Greenland around 1800
. ''Kontur'', No. 22 (2011). and banned further attempts to urbanize the Inuit or alter their traditional way of life through improved employment opportunities or sales of luxury items. Large premiums were charged on goods such as sugar and coffee in order to prevent the Inuit from 'softening' and abandoning their demanding work. Edward Augustus Inglefield two European men Greenland 1854

Edward Augustus Inglefield two European men Greenland 1854

Repeated attempts to end the department's monopoly on trade were defeated, notably by an impassioned defense of the company's practices by its director

Hinrich Rink Dr. Hinrich Johannes Rink (first name sometimes as Henrik) (26 August 1819 – 15 December 1893) was a Danish geologist, one of the pioneers of glaciology, and the first accurate describer of the inland ice of Greenland. Rink, who first came to ...

, but local councils were established in 1857 with authority over one-fifth of each station's profits and the valuable trade in

cryolite Cryolite ( Na3 Al F6, sodium hexafluoroaluminate) is a rare mineral identified with the once-large deposit at Ivittuut on the west coast of Greenland, mined commercially until 1987. It is used in the reduction ("smelting") of aluminium, in pest ...

extracted from

Ivigtut Ivittuut (formerly, Ivigtût) ( Kalaallisut: "Grassy Place") is an abandoned mining town near Cape Desolation in southwestern Greenland, in the modern Sermersooq municipality on the ruins of the former Norse Middle Settlement. Ivittuut is one ...

was granted to a different company in 1864.Doody, Richard. ''The World at War''.
GREENLAND 1721 - 1953
. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. In 1908, the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

took over general administration and, in 1912, the entire trading operation was brought under its supervision as well.

Fleet

The Royal Greenland Trading Department began with a gift of three ships from the king: the large frigate ''Kongens Gave'' ("King's Gift"), the smaller frigate ''Holsteinsborg'', and the galiot ''Den Gloende''.Fogsgaard.
Dansk hvalfangst i Nordatlanten 1771 - 1789
'. 2003. In 1776, its fleet consisted of the ''Bernstorff'', the ''Eichsted'', the ''Godthaab'', the ''Holsteinsborg'', the ''Island'', the ''Kongenshaab'', the ''Krag Juul Wind'', the ''Lovisenborg'', the ''Mariakirke'', the ''Sankt Croix'', the ''Sankt Peter'', the ''Schack Rathlau'', the ''Schimmelmann, Skatmester'', the ''Strat Davis'', and the ''Taasinge Slot''. The next year, only 10 vessels returned: the ''Bernstorff'', the ''Eichsted'', the ''Gregers Juul'', the ''Guldberg'', the ''Holsteinsborg'', the ''Kongenshaab'', the ''Krag Juul Wind'', the ''Schack Rathlau'', the ''Schack'', and the ''Schimmelmann, Skatmester''. In 1781, a royal order granted a number of privileges to crew members of the Royal Greenland fleet. They were made exempt from regular military service except for times of utter need. Furthermore, crew members were freed from any civil obligations, which included tax-free trading for personal provisioning before and after a voyage and a deferral of heritage fees for the families of crew members deceased during a voyage. The Department began purchasing its own trading vessels again in 1790. Ships operated by the trading department included the ''Mariane'', ''Tjalfe'', ''Godthaab'', ''Gertrud Rask'', ''Gustav Holm'', and ''Ceres''. From 1792, the armed vessel ''Dorothea'' served as a coastal patrol in northern Greenland in order to prevent illegal trading between the Inuit and foreign ships and to discourage whaling by other nations in the area. The department also operated the commercial whaler s/s ''Sonja'' between 1924 and 1958, with a six-year hiatus during World War II.

Disestablishment

The company's monopoly was finally ended in 1950,Royal Greenland.
Our History
". Accessed 27 August 2010. as the two halves of Greenland were reunited in preparation for the island's full integration with the Kingdom of Denmark, which occurred in 1953. The Home Rule Government was introduced in 1979 and gained control of the company in 1986,Dahl, Jens.
Saqqaq: An Inuit Hunting Community in the Modern World
'. Univ. of Toronto Press, 2000. renaming it Kalaallit Niuerfiat ( Kalallisut: "Greenland Trade").Culture Greenland.
Preliminary Studies in KGH's Photo-Archive
". Accessed 2 May 2012. In 1992, it was reorganized into the KNI conglomerate.KNI.
''Kort historie om KNI''
Short History of KNI. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. The

fishing company was spun off in 1990, the

Royal Arctic Line Royal Arctic Line Aktieselskab, A/S (RAL) or Royal Arctic is a seaborne freight company in Greenland, wholly owned by the Naalakkersuisut, Government of Greenland. It was formed in 1993, and is headquartered in Nuuk. History Royal Arctic Line A ...

shipping company in 1993,Royal Arctic Lines.
Royal Arctic Line Ltd.: History
. Accessed 28 Apr 2012. and the

Pisiffik Pisiffik A/S is a chain of Greenlandic stores. The company is the largest privately owned commercial company in Greenland, and is a subsidiary jointly owned by NorgesGruppen, the Norwegian grocery wholesaling group, the Danish investment company ...

retail chain in 2001.Pisiffik.
Om os
". Accessed 28 Aug 2010.

References

External links

* {{authority control Defunct companies of Greenland Defunct companies of Denmark Former monopolies Chartered companies Trading companies Companies established in 1774 Companies disestablished in 1986 Danish overseas colonies Economic history of Denmark History of Greenland 18th century in the Danish colonial empire 18th century in Greenland 19th century in the Danish colonial empire 19th century in Greenland 20th century in the Danish colonial empire 20th century in Greenland 1774 establishments in Denmark 1986 disestablishments in Denmark Trading companies of Denmark Trading companies established in the 18th century Government-owned companies of Denmark

History

Fleet

Disestablishment

See also

References

External links