Heinrich Hirschsprung
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Hirschsprung was a Danish
tobacco manufacturer, arts patron and art collector, founder of the Hirschsprung Collection
in Copenhagen
, a museum dedicated to Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century.
inro a family of German
-Jewish decent. His farther, Abraham Marcus , had been born in Friedberg
near Frankfurt am Main in 1783 but moved to Denmark where he opened a small tobacco business in Copenhagen's Hotel D'Angleterre in 1826. Two years later, in 1727, he married Petrea Hirschsprung née Hertz (1804–1891), and they had six children.
Heinrich and his brother Bernhard took over their father's shop in 1858 and under their leadership the business, now specializing in cigar making, grew rapidly. In 1866, they bought a piece of unused land at Gammelholm
, an area which had been a naval site until 1859. There they built a modern factory for manufacting cigars. It was designed by the young architect Ove Petersen in a Historicist style
which relied on Italian Renaissance architecture for inspiration.
Heinrich married Pauline Elisabeth Jacobson (9 July 1845 - 1912), afterwards known as Pauline Hirschsprung, on 26 June 1864. They had five children; Ellen, Ivar, Åge, Robert and Oskar. Pauline was the daughter of wholesaler Daniel Simon (1791–1858) and Friederiche Jacobson née Gerhardt (1811–1855).
They had their first apartment on Højbro Plads in Copenhagen and then a house on Bredgade
. They also had country homes in the north of Sjælland as well as in Italy
.
(1825–1910). His collection expanded over the years with additional purchases of paintings by contemporary Danish artists. It was a modern collection of examples from the Skagen Painters
, the Fynboerne (Funen Artists) and Symbolists
.
Hirschsprung was a great supporter, both personal and economic, of P.S. Krøyer
who met him through Frants Henningsen
, a mutual friend at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi). Hirschsprung admired Krøyer’s artistic talent and skills, and he purchased the first paintings from him in 1874 — four watercolors from Hornbæk
. They continued a life-long friendship. Hirschsprung helped finance Krøyer’s travels and foreign residence during the years 1877-1881, giving him the economic support needed to develop his artistic skills. Krøyer was a friend of the entire family. He carried on a personal correspondence with Pauline and made a number of family portraits of Heinrich, Pauline and their children.
In addition to P.S. Krøyer, their homes were gathering places for such other contemporary artists as authors Holger Drachmann
(1846–1908), Herman Bang
(1857–1912) and Henrik Pontoppidan
(1857–1943) and painters Wilhelm Marstrand
(1810–1873), Frederik Vermehren
(1823–1910), Otto Bache
(1839–1927), Kristian Zahrtmann
(1843–1917), and Frants Henningsen
(1850–1908).
The Hirschsprung Collection
(Den Hirschsprungske Samling) was established by Pauline and the museum opened in 1911 with 45 paintings, 13 pastels, 205 drawings, 14 watercolors, 12 busts, 55 sketchbooks as well as P.S. Krøyer’s letters and documents. The collection has grown since then, and the museum continues to this day in a beautiful park setting near central Copenhagen, around the corner from the National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst
).
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
tobacco manufacturer, arts patron and art collector, founder of the Hirschsprung Collection
The Hirschsprung Collection
The Hirschsprung Collection is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large collection of Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, a museum dedicated to Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century.
Family and business life
Heinrich Hirschsprung was born on 7 February 1836 in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
inro a family of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-Jewish decent. His farther, Abraham Marcus , had been born in Friedberg
Friedberg, Hesse
Friedberg is a town and the capital of the Wetteraukreis district, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 26 kilometers north of Frankfurt am Main.-Division of the town:The town consists of 7 districts:* Bruchenbrücken...
near Frankfurt am Main in 1783 but moved to Denmark where he opened a small tobacco business in Copenhagen's Hotel D'Angleterre in 1826. Two years later, in 1727, he married Petrea Hirschsprung née Hertz (1804–1891), and they had six children.
Heinrich and his brother Bernhard took over their father's shop in 1858 and under their leadership the business, now specializing in cigar making, grew rapidly. In 1866, they bought a piece of unused land at Gammelholm
Gammelholm
Gammelholm is a predominantly residential neighbourhood in the city centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is bounded by the Nyhavn canal, Kongens Nytorv, Holmens Kanal, Niels Juels Gade and the waterfront along Havnegade...
, an area which had been a naval site until 1859. There they built a modern factory for manufacting cigars. It was designed by the young architect Ove Petersen in a Historicist style
Historicism (art)
Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
which relied on Italian Renaissance architecture for inspiration.
Heinrich married Pauline Elisabeth Jacobson (9 July 1845 - 1912), afterwards known as Pauline Hirschsprung, on 26 June 1864. They had five children; Ellen, Ivar, Åge, Robert and Oskar. Pauline was the daughter of wholesaler Daniel Simon (1791–1858) and Friederiche Jacobson née Gerhardt (1811–1855).
They had their first apartment on Højbro Plads in Copenhagen and then a house on Bredgade
Bredgade
Bredgade is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden and Grønningen, it is one of the major streets in Frederiksstaden, a Rococo district laid out in the middle of the...
. They also had country homes in the north of Sjælland as well as in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Art collection and artist friends
Hirschsprung began his art collection in 1866, with the purchase of a painting by Julius ExnerJulius Exner
Johan Julius Exner, , Danish genre painter, was born in Copenhagen to Johann Gottlieb Exner, a Czech musician from Bohemia, who came to Denmark during the Napoleonic period, and his wife Karen Jørgensdatter...
(1825–1910). His collection expanded over the years with additional purchases of paintings by contemporary Danish artists. It was a modern collection of examples from the Skagen Painters
Skagen Painters
The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the area of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century...
, the Fynboerne (Funen Artists) and Symbolists
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
.
Hirschsprung was a great supporter, both personal and economic, of P.S. Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer
Peder Severin Krøyer , known as P.S. Krøyer, was a Norwegian-Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and undeniably the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final...
who met him through Frants Henningsen
Frants Henningsen
Frants Peter Diderik Henningsen was a Danish painter, illustrator and professor. Erik Henningsen, also an artist, was his younger brother.-Biography:...
, a mutual friend at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi). Hirschsprung admired Krøyer’s artistic talent and skills, and he purchased the first paintings from him in 1874 — four watercolors from Hornbæk
Hornbæk
Hornbæk is a seaside resort town on the north coast of the Danish island of Zealand, facing the Øresund which separates Denmark from Sweden. It is part of Helsingør Municipality and is located 12 km north-west of Elsinore, and is mainly known for its mundane holiday homes and broad sandy beaches.As...
. They continued a life-long friendship. Hirschsprung helped finance Krøyer’s travels and foreign residence during the years 1877-1881, giving him the economic support needed to develop his artistic skills. Krøyer was a friend of the entire family. He carried on a personal correspondence with Pauline and made a number of family portraits of Heinrich, Pauline and their children.
In addition to P.S. Krøyer, their homes were gathering places for such other contemporary artists as authors Holger Drachmann
Holger Drachmann
Holger Henrik Herholdt Drachmann , was a Danish poet and dramatist. He is an outstanding figure of the Modern Break-Through....
(1846–1908), Herman Bang
Herman Bang
Herman Joachim Bang was a Danish author, one of the men of the Modern Breakthrough.-Biography:Bang was born into a noble family of Asserballe, on the small Danish island of Als, the son of a South Jutlandic vicar...
(1857–1912) and Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan
Henrik Pontoppidan was a realist writer who shared with Karl Gjellerup the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1917 for "his authentic descriptions of present-day life in Denmark." Pontoppidan's novels and short stories — informed with a desire for social progress but despairing, later in his...
(1857–1943) and painters Wilhelm Marstrand
Wilhelm Marstrand
Nicolai Wilhelm Nikolaj Marstrand , painter and illustrator, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to Nicolai Jacob Marstrand, instrument maker and inventor, and Petra Othilia Smith...
(1810–1873), Frederik Vermehren
Frederik Vermehren
Johan Frederik Nikolai Vermehren, also known as Frederik Vermehren, , Danish realistic genre and portrait painter, was born in Ringsted to glazier Peter Frederik Nikolai Vermehren and his wife Sofie Amalie. His artistic career took place during the period of Danish art between the Golden Age of...
(1823–1910), Otto Bache
Otto Bache
Otto Bache was a Danish painter. Many of his pictures depict key events in Danish history.-Biography:Bache was born on 21 August 1839. Only 10 years old, on a dispensation, he was admitted into the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, from 1854 studying under Wilhelm Marstrand...
(1839–1927), Kristian Zahrtmann
Kristian Zahrtmann
Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann, known as Kristian Zahrtmann, was a Danish painter. He was a part of the Danish artistic generation in the late 19th century, along with Peder Severin Krøyer and Theodor Esbern Philipsen, who broke away from both the strictures of traditional Academicism and the...
(1843–1917), and Frants Henningsen
Frants Henningsen
Frants Peter Diderik Henningsen was a Danish painter, illustrator and professor. Erik Henningsen, also an artist, was his younger brother.-Biography:...
(1850–1908).
The Hirschsprung Collection
The Hirschsprung Collection
The Hirschsprung Collection is an art museum in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located in a parkland setting in Østre Anlæg, near the Danish National Gallery, and houses a large collection of Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century...
(Den Hirschsprungske Samling) was established by Pauline and the museum opened in 1911 with 45 paintings, 13 pastels, 205 drawings, 14 watercolors, 12 busts, 55 sketchbooks as well as P.S. Krøyer’s letters and documents. The collection has grown since then, and the museum continues to this day in a beautiful park setting near central Copenhagen, around the corner from the National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst
Statens Museum for Kunst
Statens Museum for Kunst is the Danish national gallery located in Copenhagen....
).