Jörgen Kock

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Jörgen Kock
Jörgen Kock's house in Malmö

Jörgen Kock (* 1487 ; † 1556 ) was Mayor of Malmö .

Jörgen Kock was probably born in Westphalia. Marriage to the widow of a wealthy Malmö citizen enabled him to enter the higher urban society. In 1518 he became the mint master of Malmö, already wealthy through extensive trade . In the following years Kock supported the Danish King Christian II in the financing of his warlike ventures. However, when his political defeat became foreseeable in 1523, he took the side of Friedrich I. In 1523 he became mayor of Malmö and handed the city over to Friedrich in January 1524, whom he loyally followed until his death in 1533. In this position, Jörgen Kock pushed through the reformation of the city until 1530 and thus played an important role throughout the entire Danish Reformation period.

In 1534, together with Christoph von Oldenburg , he supported Christian II's attempt to regain the Danish throne in the so-called Count Feud. After the devastating defeat in 1536, Jörgen Kock managed to win the trust of his former opponent Christian III. to win and to remain mayor until the end of his life in 1556.

As mayor, he led extensive construction work; Among other things, he had entire streets demolished for the large market square ( Stortorget ) and the town hall. On the edge of the square, he had his own manorial house built, which is still standing today. In addition, after 1536 he supported the reconstruction of the Malmö city fortress Malmöhus out of his own pocket.

literature

  • Friis, Astrid: Kock, Jørgen ; in: Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, 3rd edition 1981; Vol. 8, pp. 134ff.
  • Grell, Ole Peter: Jørgen Kock - A study i Religion and Politics i Reformationstidens Danmark ; in: Profiler i Nordisk Senmiddelalder og Renaissance, Festskrift til Poul Enemark (Arusia Historiske Skrifter II); Århus 1983, pp. 113-126.