Heinrich Karl Earl von Schimmelman ( July 13, 1724 , Demmin , Principality of Mecklenburg - February 16, 1782 , Copenhagen , Denmark ) - German-Danish statesman and political figure, entrepreneur .
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Biography
The son of a merchant. Started as a trader, studied commerce in Stettin . Soon after, he founded a warehouse and was engaged in trade in Dresden , then opened a representative office in Hamburg . In 1755, Schimmelman was put in charge of tax collection in Saxony’s condemnation , which allowed him to take control of deliveries to the Prussian army of King Frederick the Great during the Seven Years War . After Frederick's army occupied Saxony, it bought and sold profitably to the king Meissen porcelain manufactory.
In 1759 he moved to Hamburg and bought the estate of Ahrensburg [2] in Holstein .
Being an enterprising person, Schimmelman was engaged in real estate trade, supply of bread for military needs, built channels, arranged lotteries and cranked up financial frauds. He was the owner of sugar plantations, produced cotton and weapons, published newspapers.
The head of the Danish government, Count J. H. E. Bernstorf , assessing Schimmelman's abilities, invited him in 1761 to serve the Danish king.
Schimmelman used his talent and reputation to obtain profitable loans from abroad in order to keep the shattered Danish state and financial system afloat. In 1762-1765, Schimmelman successfully worked to provide the Danish government, sometimes even at his own expense. In September 1762, in order to improve the financial situation of Denmark, G. K. Schimmelman decided to impose an extraordinary income tax , which led to unrest in the country. However, he secured public finance and stabilized financial markets.
In the financial field, Schimmelman proved himself so successfully that he won the title of count and was awarded the Order of the Elephant . The merits of the former merchant in front of the Danish crown were so great that even his son Ernst Heinrich was subsequently able to assume the post of Minister of Finance of Denmark.
G. K. Schimmelmann was one of the richest people of his time. Under Hamburg, he had two estates bought from the Rantzau family. The history of Ahrensburg and especially Wandsbek , where he not only built himself a castle, but also largely determined the life of the future Hamburg district, is closely connected with his name. He, in particular, contributed to the economic development of Wandsbek, became the publisher of the newspaper Wandsbeker Bothe and introduced the lottery , on the income from which he founded the charity fund to help the poor, built hospitals and schools.
Along with the charity involved in the slave trade . Schimmelman earned much of his wealth from the arms trade and “black goods” in the so-called Atlantic trade triangle: between Europe, Africa and America. The main profit was provided by the slave trade, without which the cotton and sugar cane plantations could not do. Schimmelman himself, who exported thousands of slaves from Congo and Ghana , had several plantations on the islands of the Caribbean in the Danish West Indies , as well as the largest sugar factory in Northern Europe in Copenhagen and a cotton processing factory.
Memory
- In 2006, a stone bust was installed in Arensburg, G. C. Schimmelmann, and in 2010, a bronze bust in Hamburg .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118917323 // Common Regulatory Control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ Arensburg Castle was a family estate of Schimmelman until 1934. Now it is a museum.