Johan Frederik Classen, frequently also J. F. Classen, (11 February 1725 – 24 March 1792) 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.
Early years
Classen was born in Oslo (then called Christiania), where his father (from Sønderborg on the Danish island of Als), was an organist. The father, who had the same name as his son, was born 1697 and died 1775; his mother, Maria, born Walter (1702-1768 ), was from a Norwegian farmer family. After having gone through grammar school in his hometown, he became a theology candidate at University of Copenhagen in 1741, taking his examinations three years later.
Career
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 . 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.