Frederik Meltzer

Frederik Meltzer (born September 29, 1779 in Bergen ; † December 15, 1855 there ) was a Norwegian businessman and politician.

Life

His parents were the businessman and citizen representative Clamer Eberhard Meltzer (1745–1815) and his wife Henrikke Stoltz (1758–1785). On April 27, 1802 he married Margrethe Stub (August 31, 1779– April 24, 1832), daughter of the skipper Jacob Stub (1748–1812) and his wife Emmiche Desingthun (1751–1820). His family came from Rödinghausen and immigrated around 1690.

Meltzer received his commercial training from 1796 to 1798 in London. From 1800 to 1801 he traveled to the Netherlands, France and Germany. He then started working for his father's import and export company in Bergen. In 1803 he acquired citizenship as a commissioner. In 1805 he became the sole owner of his father's business. In the famine years 1807 to 1814 he supported the government for fish exports and the grain supply. With a friend, he fitted out several Sunnmærs boats that were bringing grain from Denmark. He also made pirate trips with his ship “Død eller Brød” (Death or Bread).

From 1825 to 1855 he was also inspector for fish products. Meltzer gradually became so absorbed in public and semi-public duties that his business began to suffer.

In March 1814 Meltzer was elected the fourth representative of the city of Bergen at the imperial assembly in Eidsvoll. There he joined the moderate wing of the independence party. He sat on the finance committee and was an avid supporter of the full oath . From 1815 to 1816 he was deputy delegate in Storting, then from 1821 to 1822, 1824 and 1833 to 1842 delegate. During this time he was a member of various finance and economic commissions. Many of the economic and financial laws had been drawn up by him. In Bergen he was a member of the city council from 1813 to 1829 and a member of the magistrate from 1837 to 1849.

In 1821 he designed the Norwegian flag that is valid today.

When Norges Bank was established in 1816 , Meltzer became the head of the department in Bergen and remained so until his death. In 1823 he was also one of the financial contributors to Bergens Sparebank. He was also one of the founders of the Bergen Stock Exchange in 1813 and a member of the board of directors of "Bergenske Søassuranceselskab" (Bergens Maritime Insurance Company).

From 1803 to 1852 he was cashier at "Det nyttige Selskab" (The Useful Society), for many years secretary at "Det dramatiske Selskab" (Dramatic Society), where he also appeared as an actor, and from 1813 to 1818 a member of the district commission of the "Selskabet for Norges Vel ”(Society for Norway's Welfare). From 1836 to 1839 he also sat on the board of the “Den gode Hensigt” lodge (The good intention). He was also director of the secondary school and the drawing school, was active in the music society "Harmonie", was one of the founders of "Bergens Kunstforening" in 1838 and was on the board of directors of the newly founded "Bergens Museum".

Frederik Meltzer's diary, which he kept for 57 years, is one of the most important sources on daily life in Bergen at that time. Most of the diary has been preserved.

He was a knight of the Swedish Wasa Order and was French Vice-Consul in Bergen from 1816 to 1840.

Remarks

The article is based on the Norsk biografisk leksikon.

1. ^ "Citizen representative" was the name given to members of the city government in the trading cities.
2. ↑ It concerns the consequences of the English naval blockade in the Danish-English war.
3. ↑ "Sunnmørsboote" were four-eight oars in various sizes with a pointed stern in clinker construction. The boat had a wide forecastle with a large load capacity. They also had an asymmetrical square sail, narrow at the yard , wide at the leech .
4. ↑ There were no parties in the current sense. It was a group of delegates with similar goals and ideas gathered around a spokesman.

literature

• Bjarne Fossen is different: Article “Frederik Meltzer” in: Norsk biografisk leksikon