Nils Jensen Ytteborg (18 September 1792 – 5 June 1858) was a Norwegian

craftsman Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative *Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take o ...

, tanner, businessman,

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and Member of Parliament in Norway.

Family

Nils Jensen Ytteborg is a child from a family that originally hailed from the Ytteborg farm in the parish of Løten in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

county (in the present-day

Løten Municipality Løten is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Hedemarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Løten. Other villages in the municipality include Ådalsbruk, Heim ...

). His brother migrated to

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, to work as a

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

r while he opted to settle in Christiania (now

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

) to work as a saddler. He married Ingeborg Marie Woxen (1796–1868) with whom he had two sons, Carl Theodor (1827–1888) and Julius Ferdinand (1830–1910).

Career and accomplishments

From humble beginning as a

r and tanner, Ytteborg thrived in his craft, and even expanded his source of income by venturing into selling

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

and

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

. When he had accumulated enough capital, in 1836 he founded Ytteborg Brewery, which was later renamed the Foss Brewery. By 1842, he became one of the richer men in Christiania. His son, Carl Theodor, whom he also trained, later took over the brewery . On 8 November 1838, he was instrumental in establishing the Christiana Craftsmen Association to protect the rights and welfare of craftsmen and workers in Christiana, including the initiative to professionalize the ranks. His pro-worker initiatives and natural

leadership Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

skills had helped in making him as the first craftsman elected as Member of the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

(1851–1853).

Legacy

In 1958 (100 years after his death) a road in the suburb of Haugenstua in the Oslo district of

Stovner Stovner (traditionally pronounced Stomner) is a borough located to the far north east of the city of Oslo, Norway. Historically, Stovner was the name of a farm in the municipal borough "Østre Aker Stovner (traditionally pronounced Stomner) is a ...

was named ''Garver Ytteborgs vei'' in memory of him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ytteborg, Nils Jensen 1792 births 1858 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Norwegian company founders Norwegian brewers Politicians from Oslo Members of the Storting 1851–1853