Johan Andreas Altenburg (1763–1824) was aNorwegianmerchant andshipowner. He belonged to thepatriciate of the port town ofSkien and was the maternal grandfather of playwright and theatre directorHenrik Ibsen.[1]
Altenburg was born atLille Ulefos, inTelemark, Norway. He was the son of sawmill managerDiderik Altenburg (1719–1766) andMarichen Johansdatter Barth (1737–1769). His parents died early. After the death of his father, his mother was married in 1767 to Engebreth Christopher Blom Bertelsen Bomhoff (1737–1800). After his mother's subsequent death, he and his siblings lived with their stepfather.
Johan Altenburg was originally aship's captain, but stopped sailing at a relatively young age. Altenburg ran a lumber trade, owned several ships, a farm and a largebrewery in the community ofBratsberg. He owned Altenburggården, a large manor in the center of Skien, where he lived with his family, and also owned one of Århusgårdene outside Skien, which the family used as a country house.[2]
He marriedHedevig Christine Paus (1763–1848), a sister of shipownerOle Paus andMartha Paus (marriedBlom). His sister,Kristine Cathrine Ploug, lived with him and his family following the death of her husband in 1799. He was the father ofMarichen Altenburg (1799–1869) and thus the maternal grandfather of playwrightHenrik Ibsen. Following his death and his daughter's marriage toKnud Ibsen in 1825, his considerable fortune passed to hisson-in-law, who however went almostbankrupt due to failed speculations in the mid-1830s. Almost the entire family fortune was lost by 1835. TheIbsen family had lived at the stately Altenburggården manor in central Skien, until Knud Ibsen's bankruptcy force them to move.[3][4]
Altenburggården manor burned to the ground in the 1886 citywide fire which also reduced much of Skien to ruins after which the center of town was rebuilt.[5]
Henrik Ibsen's family | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ancestors and birth relatives | GrandparentsHenrich Ibsen,Johanne Plesner,Johan Andreas Altenburg,Hedevig Paus,Ole Paus (step grandfather), parentsKnud Ibsen andMarichen Altenburg, sisterHedvig Ibsen, unclesChristian Cornelius Paus,Henrik Johan Paus,Christopher Blom Paus, great-auntKristine Cathrine Ploug (née Altenburg), first cousinOle Paus, nephewCarl Stousland, first cousin once removedChristopher de Paus, great-grandfatherCornelius Paus | |
| Wife, family-in-law and issue | WifeSuzannah Ibsen (née Thoresen), step mother-in-lawMagdalene Thoresen, sonSigurd Ibsen, daughter-in-lawBergliot Ibsen (née Bjørnson), grandsonTancred Ibsen, granddaughterIrene Ibsen Bille (née Ibsen), grandson's wifeLillebil Ibsen (née Krohn), great-grandsonsTancred Ibsen Jr. andJoen Bille, great-great-granddaughtersNora Ibsen andBeate Bille | |
See also:Ibsen family –Paus family | ||
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