Christian Waagepetersen


Christian Waagepetersen was a Danish wine merchant and patron of the arts. The Waagepetersen House, his home on Store Strandstræde in Copenhagen, was during the 1820s and 1830s a meeting place for many leading figures of the Danish Golden Age. The neoclassical building is now listed.
He was born Christian Waage Petersen but changed his surname to Waagepetersen on 4 March 1831.

Early life and education

Christian Waage Petersen was born in Copenhagen in 1787, the son of Lorentz Petersen and his wife Sophie Magdalene Worm. His father worked for a Councilman named Waage but later established himself as a wine merchant. Waage Petersen was taught the trade by his father and completed his education at trade offices abroad.

Career

Waagepetersen established his own business in 1808. It grew rapidly and eventually became the leading wine dealer in the city. The company was from 1811 based in his property at Store Strandstræde 18 where he also had his home. In 1827, he was appointed to royal wine merchant.

Public offices

From 1808 to 1816 Waagepetersen was superintendent for the city's poorhouses. From 1824 until 1835 he was a member of the Copenhagen Council of 32 Men.

Personal life and legacy

On 18 November 1809 he married Albertine Emmerentse Schmidt in the Church of Holmen. She was the daughter of the wealthy merchant Albrecht Ludvig Schmidt and his wife Frederikke Christiane Restorff. They had the following children:
Waagepetersen was also a patron for the arts and sciences. When the College of Advanced Technology was founded, he donated a fully equipped, chemical laboratory. He was particularly fond of music as witnessed by the fact that he named three of his sons after Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Waagepetersen died on 23 November 1840. He is buried at the Garrison Cemetery in Copenhagen.
One of his sons, Mozart Waagepetersen, continued his wine company. He also took over the building in Store Strandstræde but sold it in the 1870s.Christian Waagepetersen's second'eldest daughter Albertine was married to Carl Harald Mønster, another prominent wine dealer. Another daughter, Christine, was married to the physician Jacob Christian Bendz. His brother, Wilhelm Bendz, painted the Waagepetersen Family Portrait.