Gysbert van der Smissen (entrepreneur, 1620)

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Gysbert van der Smissen (born April 6 or 8, 1620 in Haarlem , † January 22, 1685 in Altona ) was a Dutch baker, merchant and shipowner.

Live and act

Gysbert van der Smissen came from a Flemish family, originally in Brussels lived and in the 16th century, the Anabaptists ( Mennonites joined). During the Spanish governorship, members of this faith suffered systematic persecution. According to oral tradition, van der Smissen's grandfather of the same name went to Goch in 1576 and worked there as a “linen and sheet manufacturer”, which was probably the name of a trade. In 1581 the grandfather moved on to Haarlem and worked there as a merchant and shipowner.

Van der Smissen's father Daniel (* in May 1583 in Goch) was married to Jacobmijntje, née van der Kauter (Couter) (* 1594 in Goes ; † 10 (not 16) July 1643 in Glückstadt ). He moved to Friedrichstadt an der Eider via Husum around 1622/24 and probably worked as a gardener here. He died in Friedrichstadt in October 1629, probably due to the plague . The mother then married the Glückstadt baker Gerdt (Gerten) Lamberts in 1630 and moved with Gysbert and his sister Susanne to her new husband. His stepfather probably played a part in van der Smissen's training with Adrian van Meerwyk, a baker from Friedrichstadt. The journeyman's letter of February 16, 1644 shows that after completing his apprenticeship he worked for van Meerwyk as a journeyman for four years.

Van der Smissen returned to Glückstadt and received citizenship in May 1644. He co-founded the lot and cake baker and traded extensively in grain. Then he took over forwarding services in the traffic between Holland, Lübeck and Hamburg. He was one of the first Mennonites to work as a shipowner on the Elbe. In 1658 he made himself available as a guarantor for the Glückstadt skipper of the "Bunten Frese" and was one of the founders of the first urban whaling company, which in 1661 had to give up the first ship in the ice. The following year he and his eldest son Daniel participated in the "Fortuna". His son then acted as the main owner of ten ships.

In 1677 van der Smissen moved to Altona. King Christian V granted him a free master's license for a white and black bakery here. After the death of his third wife, the siege of the city and the billeting of Danish soldiers, the economy came to a standstill, so that van der Smissen went back to Glückstadt. At the beginning of 1682 he returned to Altona with his youngest son Heinrich. He rented a house on the corner of Große Elbstraße / Elbbrücke on the west side of the Altona fish market . The headquarters of the Hinrich van der Smissen (Sons) company , where the family had a bakery, was located here until 1824 . Van der Smissen's direct descendants expanded it into the largest private commercial enterprise in Altona in the 18th century. You operated internationally and had your own shipping company. The building existed until around 1880 when the fish market was enlarged.

family

Van der Smissen married on September 18, 1644 in Emden Cathaline Hendriks (* October 22, 1622 in Emden, † October 18, 1663 in Glückstadt ), with whom he had three daughters and six sons, including Hinrich van der Smissen . She was a daughter of Hendrik Ubbes.

In his second marriage, van der Smissen married Gertrud (Geertruy) Roosen on August 7, 1664 at the Holzkamp farm near Lübeck (born October 26, 1632 at the Holzkamp farm ; † March 12, 1672 in Glückstadt). She was the daughter of Cord Roosen, who lived as a tenant on Hof Holzkamp. From this marriage came two daughters and two sons.

In his third marriage, which remained childless, van der Smissen married on July 22, 1677 in Altona Anna de Vlieger (* 1628; † February 23, 1678 in Altona), whose father was Jacob de Vlieger.

literature

  • Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Vol. 12 - 2006. ISBN 3-529-02560-7 , pages 389-390.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der , p. 389.
  2. ^ Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der , p. 389.
  3. ^ Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der , p. 389.
  4. ^ Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der , pp. 389–390.
  5. ^ Matthias H. Rauert: Smissen, Gisbert von der , p. 389.
personal data
SURNAME Smissen, Gysbert van der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch baker, merchant and shipowner
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1620 or April 8, 1620
PLACE OF BIRTH Haarlem
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1685
Place of death Altona