Johan Ludvig Holstein, Lensgreve til

Ledreborg Ledreborg is a palatial mansion near Lejre, to the southwest of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand. Today's Baroque architecture, Baroque building was completed in 1746 by Minister of State Johan Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Johan Ludvig Hol ...

(7 September 1694 – 29 January 1763) was a Danish

Minister of state Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

from 1735 to 1751. The Danish colony Holsteinsborg on

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 ...

(now

Sisimiut Sisimiut (), also known by its Danish name Holstensborg or Holsteinsborg, is the capital and largest city of the Qeqqata municipality, the second-largest city in Greenland, and the largest Arctic city in North America.The term 'city' is loos ...

), was named after him. He was the ancestor of the Holstein-Ledreborg family, including

Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg Count Johan Ludvig Carl Christian Tido of Holstein-Ledreborg (10 June 1839 – 1 March 1912), was a Danish politician who was Minister of State of Denmark. He was Council President of Denmark for two months, from 16 August to 28 October 190 ...

and Knud Johan Ludvig, Lensgreve Holstein til Ledreborg, husband of

Princess Marie Gabriele of Luxembourg Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Luxembourg (Marie-Gabrielle Aldegunde Wilhelmine Louise; 2 August 1925 – 9 February 2023) was a Luxembourgish princess, the third daughter and fourth child of Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896–1985) and Prince Felix o ...

. In 1739 he built Ledreborg Manor near

Lejre Lejre is a railway town in the northwestern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in eastern Denmark. It has a population of 3,165 (1 January 2024) inhabitants.

, Denmark.

Early life

Johan Ludvig was the son of Johan Georg Holstein, who would himself become Danish prime minister, and Ida Frederikke Joachime of the

Bülow family The House of Bülow () is an old German nobility, German noble family with a danish nobility, Danish branch. Of Mecklenburg origin, its members have borne the title of Baron (''Freiherr''), Count (''Graf'') or Prince (''Fürst''). History T ...

. He was born on 7 September 1694, at the

Lübz Lübz () is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated on the river Elde, northeast of Parchim. History The first mention of ''Lubicz'' comes from 1224. The name is of ...

castle which belonged to his maternal grandmother. His tutors during his upbringing included J. W. Schröder who later would go on to tutor

Christian VI of Denmark Christian VI (30 November 1699 – 6 August 1746) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1730 to 1746. The eldest surviving son of Frederick IV of Denmark, Frederick IV and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's m ...

. In 1711 his father sent him to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

where he studied with

Johann Albert Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer. Biography Fabricius was born in Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...

for a year. Subsequently, he studied and traveled at various places in Germany, the Netherlands, France and England until 1716, when he became a courtier and civil servant in Denmark.

Holm Holm may refer to: Places * Holm (island), the name of several islands * Holm, Nordfriesland, Germany * Holm, Pinneberg, Germany * Holm (Flensburg), Flensburg, Germany * Holm, Nordland, a village in Bindal Municipality in Nordland county ...

(DBL), pp.37–38

Career in Denmark

He obtained the position of marshal of the court to Crown Prince Christian (later King Christian VI) in 1721.Johan Ludvig Holstein

Store norske leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

(2005–2007) In 1727, he became a member of the

College of Missions The College of Missions (; ) or Royal Mission College (') was a Dano-Norwegian association based in Copenhagen which funded and directed Protestant missions under royal patronage. Along with the Moravian church, it was the first large-scale Protes ...

where his father was president, and the same year he also became director of the ''Waisenhuset'', an orphanage King Frederick IV founded that year.

(DBL), p.38 When Christian VI became king in 1730, he appointed Holstein ''stiftsamtmand'' (''

amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff A bailiff is a ...

'' and co-administrator of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

with the bishop) of Zealand and ''amtmann'' of Copenhagen and

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

. In February 1734, he was appointed Minister of Finance. As the new king soon became disappointed in the men he originally had chosen to lead the chanceries, he appointed Holstein leading secretary of the Danish chancery (a position often known as Minister of State) on 12 May 1735, replacing

Iver Rosenkrantz Iver Eriksen Rosenkrantz (5 December 1674 – 13 November 1745) was a Danish statesman and landowner. Education and early career Iver Rosenkrantz was born at Rosenholm Castle (''Rosenholm Slot'') in Hornslet, Denmark. He was the son of Erik R ...

. At the same time, he became member of the king's council (''Konseillet'').

(DBL), p.39 In 1740, he also replaced Rosenkrantz as patron of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

. In 1757, he additionally became first member of a special agricultural committee which was operative for several years. Holstein was in regular correspondence with the King about daily affairs and matters with which the King was occupied.

Religious and scientific interests

Holstein was deeply religious with

pietistic Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life. Although the movement is aligned with Luth ...

leanings. In his older days he studied

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

in order to be able to read the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

in its original language.

(DBL), p.41 He also studied philosophy and history.

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

was among the philosophers he read, and he corresponded with Johann Lorenz von Mosheim and

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fam ...

. In Denmark, he was in contact with historians

Hans Gram Hans Gram may refer to: * Hans Christian Gram (1853–1938), Danish scientist who invented Gram staining * Hans Gram (composer) (1754-1804), Danish-American composer and musician * Hans Gram (historian) Hans Gram (28 October 1685 – 19 February ...

and Andreas Hojer. With the permission of the King, Holstein and Gram founded the

Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...

on 13 November 1742.

(DBL), p.42 He served as president of the Academy for the rest of his lifetime and the meetings were held at his residence. The academy opted right from the beginning to publish in Danish rather than

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, even though German was Holstein's mother tongue as well as the language of many academics in Denmark at that time.

Personal life and Ledreborg

Holstein married Hedevig Vind (1707–1756), a Danish noblewoman, in 1733. They had three children, among them Christian Frederik Holstein. With the help of her inheritance, capital obtained from selling his properties in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, and his income as a civil servant Holstein was able to buy land in the

area, where he built the Ledreborg mansion. Ledreborg was first established as a ''stamhus'' (

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

) and in 1750 converted into a

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...

(Danish: ''lensgrevskap'').

(DBL), p.43 At his death Holstein left a library of 20,000 books, as well as a collection of handwritten manuscripts. Both are now in the Royal Library in Copenhagen.

Decorations

Knight of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known as ''White Knights'' t ...

(1727) * Knight of the Elephant (1747)

Notes

Bibliography

* 1897–1905. Via

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg () is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded by Lars Aronsson and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledreborg, Johan Ludvig Lensgreve Holstein Til 1694 births 1763 deaths 18th-century Danish landowners People from Lübz Government ministers of Denmark Burials at the Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen