Povl Badstuber (1685 – 3 December 1762) was a Danish coppersmith and manufacturer.

Early life and education

Badstuber was born 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 ...

in 1685 to coppersmith Lorentz Badstuber (died 1692) and Anna Andreasdatter Knock (died 1725, married a second time to the merchant Jacob Zitzke, died 1708). He learned the trade from his father and inherited the father's property in

Nørregade Nørregade (literally "North Street") is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, linking Gammeltorv in the south with Nørre Voldgade in the north. Landmarks in the street include Church of Our Lady, Bispegården, St. Peter's Church and ...

Career

In 1719, Badstuber had title of court coppersmith. His works as such included the copper roof on

Christian VI 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 and Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, he is considered one of Denmark-Norway's more anonymous kings, bu ...

Christiansborg Palace Christiansborg Palace (, ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament (), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. Also ...

. Badstuber 's father had already in the 1680s taken over the management Nymølle Copper Mill under

Frederiksdal Narsarmijit, formerly Narsaq Kujalleq and Frederiksdal (Anglicised: Frederiksthal), is a list of cities in Greenland, settlement in southern Greenland. It is located in the Kujalleq municipalities of Greenland, municipality near Cape Thorvaldsen. ...

. He expanded his business with the acquisition of

Brede Works The National Museum of Denmark's new museum, Brede Works, lies in the countryside just north of Copenhagen in Denmark's largest, protected industrial plants. At the museum of Industrial culture, the visitors can be guided around by its own Virtua ...

in 1819 and obtained a monopoly on the production of copper and brass goods on the Danish islands. In 1738, when Frederikdal passed out of royal ownership, Badstuber was granted ownership of Nymølle to facilitate the establishment of a production of

scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

s and wire. He also owned farmland in

Lundtofte Lundtofte is a neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, located north of Kongens Lyngby. The town is bordered by Nærumbanen, the Mølleåen river, the Technical University of Denmark and the Helsingørmotorvejen Helsingørmotorvejen is ...

and a farm in

Søllerød Søllerød is a suburban district of Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. The original village, one of the oldest in the area, is perched on Søllerød Hill on the south side of Søllerød Lake. It merged with ...

. His house in Nørregade in Copenhagen was destroyed in the

Copenhagen Fire of 1728 The Copenhagen Fire of 1728 was the largest fire in the history of Copenhagen, Denmark. It began on the evening of 20 October 1728 and continued to burn until the morning of the 23rd of October 1728. It destroyed approximately 28% of the city (me ...

but rebuilt at great costs in 1730–32.

Late years

In the 1730s, Badstuber experienced economic difficulties culminating with his bankruptcy in 1776. His properties in Copenhagen and

North Zealand North Zealand, also North Sealand (), refers to the northeastern part of the Danish island of Zealand. The Danish tourist authorities have recently introduced the term Danish Riviera to cover the area in view of its increasing importance for to ...

were sold at public auction at prices far lower than what they had cost him. His creditors wanted him imprisoned for his "shameful" bankruptcy which left them with a loss of 60,000

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 ...

. He spent his last years in

Birkerød Birkerød () is a town in Rudersdal Municipality in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is surrounded by several lakes and small woodlands. Birkerød station is located on the Nordbanen, Hillerød radial of the S-train suburban networ ...

with his eldest daughter who was the widow of former pastor at Søllerød Church Andreas Cramer.

Literature

* Hauch-Fausbøll, Thomas: ''Admiral Richelieus anetavle'', 1931. pp. 48. * Bruun, Carl: ''Kjøbenhavn II'', 1890, pp 684. * Nystrøm, F.: ''Søllerød sogn'', 1911 pp 230.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badstuber, Povl 1685 births 1762 deaths 18th-century Danish businesspeople 18th-century Danish metalsmiths Danish manufacturing businesspeople Danish industrialists Businesspeople from Copenhagen Danish people of German descent Coppersmiths