page_title: Johan Frederik Classen
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Johan Frederik Classen / Career
caption_attribution_description: No. LXVII. MOS ABOVE THE BRIDGE. At an elevated spot, on the ruins of an old saw-mill, this view of the town of Mos was taken&#160;; where the waters of an extensive lake, called Van-Soe, enter it in a never-failing stream, down which vast quantities of timber are continually floating from the forests in the vicinity of the lakes above, to the booms about this place. Immediately under the bridge a quick descent occurs, forming a considerable and beautiful cascade. The water, by an ingenious arrangement of shutes or tanks formed of timber, is conducted from wheel to wheel through thirty saw-mills, the noise of which, with the roaring of the cascade, deafens the ear. The streams for the use of the furnace and forges, are carefully conducted in the wooden troughs, seen on the right, and are transmitted to them after turning a grist-mill, and passing through an aqueduct over the high road. The large house was one of the temporary residences of the late Honourable B. Anker&#160;; beyond it is seen the smoke from his extensive iron-works, which occupy the whole space on that side down to the margin of the bay. Over the bridge, which is very compactly built of timber, for carriages with heavy loads, the road from Christiania joins the town of Mos. It is very amazing to look down from it, on the cascade, and on the numerous moving objects below, with the water roaring and foaming among them. There is a smaller bridge for foot passengers, half way down, near the house of an ingenious dyer, who has discovered that these waters possess the great requisite for producing and fixing the rich and brilliant scarlet colour on cloth, previously unknown in Norway. The specimens are equal to any in Europe. The principal street, commencing at the bridge, is inhabited chiefly by shopkeepers&#160;; other streets branch off to the church, and toward the side of the bay. Mos, though not a large town, contains many good houses, particularly in the two quarters above-mentioned. The situation vies with any in Norway; the soil is productive&#160;; the views in every point are interesting and pleasing&#160;; the roads are good and of gentle ascent; provisions are abundant and reasonable&#160;; and the inhabitants are frank and hospitable. The church is a large brick structure, with a lofty tower and spire&#160;; it is handsomely decorated within, having a grand altar between two massy pillars. The devotional ceremonies of the Lutheran religion are performed here on Sundays, in a solemn and impressive manner, to a very numerous congregation, collected from miles around. Some of the natural beauties of the large peninsula of Ielon are seen over the bay, presenting the luxuriant appearance of the most studied park scenery, in ornamental villas, woods, groves, lawns, and cultivated grounds, as far as the eye can reach. The sandy isthmus, which forms the access to it by land, is immediately beyond the houses near the church&#160;; it is elevated only a few feet above the level of the water, and is so narrow, that during certain strongwinds, the road over it is rendered almost impassable, being entirely overflowed by the surf of the sea below, or from the bay above.
context_page_description: Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, was a Danish-Norwegian industrialist, major general, landowner and founder of Det Classenske Fideicommis. He served as chancellery adviser to King Frederik V. Classen built the manor house Arresødal in 1773, he renovated the Neoclassical manor house Corselitze in 1777, and built the General's Summerhouse by the Corselitze Forest.
context_section_description: Despite his studies, it was not Classen's intention to make a theological career. He seems immediately to have thrown himself into other activities after coming into contact with Norwegian businessmen, possibly also participating in the high-level college of commercial advisors known as Kommercekollegiet of which a relative, Counsellor Christian Walter, was a member. When Frederik V visited Norway in 1749, Classen accompanied Admiral Andreas Rosenpalm, who was associated with various Norwegian businessmen including Erik Anker and Matthias Wærn of Norway's Moss Cannon Foundry. When only 24, Classen became a supplier of munitions to the State, in particular as commissioner for the Moss foundry, a post he held until c. 1759. As such, he conducted negotiations with army headquarters. He seems to have had influential friends in the king's immediate circle. In 1751, he received the title of Chancellry Counsellor and in 1753, was appointed Secretary of Kommercekollegiet.
  Immediately after the 1750 death of the Danish merchant, Andreas Bjørn, Classen became involved in the annual delivery of munitions to the Berbers in Algiers. He began by delivering 8,000 cannonballs, followed by gunpowder (500 centner), rope and timber, soon receiving a permanent contract to provide the delivery annually. His international trading ties developed through his connection with the former Spanish ambassador in Copenhagen, Marqués de Puente Fuerte. The work brought him into contact with a variety of industrialists, inciting him to become a businessman himself.
  In 1754, Classen unsuccessfully sought to establish a glassworks; the following year, he bought a ceramic kiln factory outside Copenhagen's Østerport. In 1756, a dispute arose between Classen and the directors of the Moss foundry, and by 1759, Classen ceased to be an agent there.
  The same year, Frederik V entrusted Classen and another businessman, Just Fabritius, with land at Agatmølle, the point where the Arresø runs into Isefjorden, on which to develop a cannon and munitions factory. De Peyrembert, a Frenchman, had unsuccessfully attempted to produce cannons there. Responding to the king's wishes, Classen and Fabritius embarked not only on the production of cannons and gunpowder but on all types of weaponry. As the land had been allocated by Frederik V, Classen named the foundry "Frederiksværk"; it became Denmark's first factory town. Fabritius provided the capital but it was Classen who became the active leader of the Frederiksværk operations, receiving the appointment of Commissioner General for War and Munitions with the title of chancellor. The business did well, benefitting from supplies for the Seven Years' War from 1756. Although he was interested in the technical side of the enterprise, it was above all Classen's abilities as an administrator and businessman which led to the factory's success.
  Within a few years, Frederiksværk became Denmark's one and only industrial town. Thanks to the quality of both its gunpowder and cannons, the factory quickly became competitive. By 1765, the number of workers had increased to some 400. While there were later minor reductions in the workforce, the factory was able to support the development of a small town as the facilities expanded to include a watermill, a brickyard, an oven foundry, a candle factory, a decorative iron works, a goldsmiths and a rope walk. Classen's enterprise also received support from the State. In 1760, to supplement the workforce a number of tenant farms were transferred to the enterprise and in 1764 all the tenant farms in the surrounding parishes of Kregme, Vinderød, Melby and Torup were included, as well as Halsnæs, Rorup and Havelse Skove came under its jurisdiction. In 1757, as commissioner for war and munitions, Classen earned 800 rigsdaler a year while in 1760, he received the position of commissioner general of the army commissariat, the body with which he signed contracts for army supplies. When Fabritius said he wished to withdraw from Frederiksværk, the king bought the factory for 130,000 rigsdaler, but Classen w
caption: Classen was a commissioner of the Moss Cannon Foundry.
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