Lars Bache (10 February 1771 – 26 July 1809) was a Danish ferryman and privateer. He was the grandfather of painter Otto Bache.

Early life

Bache was born in

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

, the son of ferryman Niels Bache (1745–1775) and Johanne Gregersdatter (1738–1781). After his father's death, his mother married ferryman Niels Nielsen Leth in 1777.

Career

Lars Bache became a ferryman in his home town. On 3 November 1801, together with five other men, during a storm at the Roads of Copenhagen, Bache managed to rescue the crew from a capsized

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...

brig. The wholesale merchant Hans Staal Hagen, who had spotted the desperate situation, had promised a reward of 100

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

to whoever could save them. Bache refused to receive the money, asking that the money instead be distributed among the crew members, stating that he "did not save people for money". The incident made him an instant celebrity. The king awarded him a medal ''Pro meritis'', Grosserer-Societetet presented him with a silver cup,

Adam Oehlenschläger Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (; 14 November 177920 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature. He wrote the lyrics to the song ''Der er et yndigt land'', which is one of the national anthe ...

honoured him with a poem, and Frederik Høegh-Guldberg also mentions him in his writings. In 1807, during the Battle of Copenhagen, he brought dispatches from

Kronborg Kronborg is a castle and historical stronghold in the town of Helsingør, Denmark. Immortalised as Elsinore in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Kronborg is one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. It was inscribed ...

to Copenhagen at great risk to his life. On 10 November in the same year he obtained a letter of mark for his ferry boat ''Makrelen'', with which he and a select crew targeted British merchant shipping.

Personal life and legacy

On 27 November 1795 in St. Olai's Church in Helsingør, Bache married Anne Margrethe Bache (1772–1857), daughter of fisherman and ''strandfoged'' in

Rungsted Rungsted, also known as ''Rungsted Kyst'', is an affluent suburban neighborhood in Hørsholm Municipality on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The center of Hørsholm is located two kilometers west of Rungsted. At the Øresund coast ...

Ole Olsen Bagge (1746–1802) and Marie Larsdatter (1745–1814). She had until then served as housekeeper for Nicolas Fenwick, at Strandgade 85–87. In 1801, Bache purchased Stengade 27. On 26 July 1809, the ''Makrellen'' sailed in a storm off Stevns, and the entire crew drowned. Lars Bache's body drifted ashore on 7 August 1809 on Vemmetofte foreshore. He was buried at Lyderslev Cemetery. Bache's widow moved to Copenhagen in 1821. She died in Copenhagen in 1857. Their eldest son Niels has described his childhood memories in his memoirs. He was the father of painter Otto Bache and school director Niels Bache. An

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

to Lars Bache painted by his grandson was installed in Lyderslev Church in 1901. A

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

is located Helsingør Cemetery. The stone has later been moved to his mother's grave.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bache, Lars Danish privateers of the Gunboat War 18th-century Danish sailors 19th-century Danish sailors People from Helsingør 1771 births 1809 deaths