Name Gerhard Treschow | Died 1719 | |
Gerhard Treschow (c.1659 – 23 May 1719) was a Danish-born, Norwegian merchant and industrial pioneer.
He was born into a family of merchants on the island of Mon in south-eastern Denmark. After attending the University of Utrecht, he was appointed tax collector as tax collector in Christiania (now Oslo) Norway in 1683. His business operations started in 1690, when he became the owner of a brickworks at Christiania. In time, he came to own six sawmills in Norderhov. He was a major exporter of lumber as well as the owner of a fleet of ships.
Around 1693 to 1694, Gerhard Treschow began to collaborate with Ole Bentsen (1653-1734). Bentsem had started a paper mill in Christiania in 1686. He had worked together with Dutch experts and machinery delivered from England. Export of paper started in 1696. This would become the forerunner for the founding of Bentse Brug, Norway's first paper mill.