Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann

Early life and career

Ernst von Schimmelmann was born in Dresden to Baron Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann and Caroline von Schimmelmann. His father was a successful merchant who made a fortune in war and became affiliated with the Danish government after moving to Hamburg and buying the Ahrensburg in Holstein. Ernst studied economics in Europe and worked for his father.

Political career

From 1782 Ernst von Schimmelmann became a key figure in Denmark's financial administration, part of a so-called Trefoil of Counts which was completed by A. P. Bernstorff and Christian Ditlev Reventlow. Due to disputes with the Minister of State, Ove Høegh-Guldberg, he had to resign in 1783 but the following year he took part in the coup d'état against Høegh-Guldberg and was appointed Minister of Finance in the new government, a post he held until 1813. From 1824 to 1831 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1790 he was awarded the Order of the Elephant, the highest Danish decoration, for his work.

Plantation owner and views on slavery

He contributed to the abolition of slave trade in Denmark by showing in a report, how Danish slave trade was inhumane and led to deficits. In the report, he also accounted for how better treatment of slaves in the Danish West Indies could reduce the large child mortality, which each year substantially reduced the slave population. Schimmelmann was not against slavery, but rather the ghastly Atlantic slave trade. Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann was a slave owner himself, owning a large sugar plantation on the island Saint Croix and being a shareholder in a company that transported slaves from the Gold Coast. He has been formally portrayed with his Negro slave in Copenhagen, where his family held several slaves.

As Minister of Finance, Schimmelmann's work to stop slave trade was started in 1792. Previously there had been no restrictions to trade, and as a compensation, he introduced government-subsidized loans for purchasing slaves prior to the ban. The Schimmelmann family became the richest family in Denmark in the 18th century largely due to the sugar trade with the West Indies, and dominated the economic life in Denmark.

Family

In 1775, Schimmelmann married Countess Emilie Rantzau, who died of tuberculosis 5 years later at the age of 28. Schimmelmann remarried in 1782, and moved with his new wife Charlotte (née Schubart) to his country home Sølyst in Klampenborg. In 1782, he raised a Classicistic monument called Emiliekilde to the memory of his first wife.

Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann and his family are buried in St. Peter's Church, Copenhagen (Sankt Petri Kirk), a church for which he was patron from 1800 until his death.

In culture and legacy

Schimmelmann is one of the characters in Maria Helleberg's historical novel Druknehuset The plot kicks off when a drenched corps shows up pn his doorstep.

The street Schimmelmannsvej in Charlottenlund is named after him.