Merchant Frederik Johan Christian Kielgast (1838-1928) was one of the largest merchants in Skive in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The company
He ran a so-called commission business, where he bought all types of goods and sold them on. This included grain, coal and other types of fuel, but also, for example, spirits in large quantities. In one case from the winter of 1894, he had bought 325 kg (approx. 325 l) of spirits, probably from the newly established De Danske Spritfabrikker in Aalborg, and had the large quantity of spirits transported by train to Højslev Station, from where it was sent to the buyer, a certain Mr. P. Knudsen in Lund, who perhaps ran a country store.
Course of life
Merchant Kielgast was born in 1838 as the son of a German glassblower named Just Kielgast, who was employed for a period at Holmegaard Glassworks just northeast of Næstved. His son Frederik Johan Christian Kielgast was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, but Frederik had other ambitions, so he went to Aalborg to learn trade in the office of the Steamship Company. He apparently did so well that in 1861 he was sent to Skive to become director of the Steamship Company’s operations in Skive. Here, the company ran commission business in strong competition with other commission merchants in Skive, including Thomas Alstrup, and director Frederik Kielgast did not want to be left behind by these big merchants and became a citizen as a merchant.
Skive Trade Association
F. Kielgast was among the 20 merchants who founded Skive Handelsforening in 1883, and he sat on the board from 1883 to 1901. He was made an honorary member on his 50th business anniversary on February 27, 1911.
Skive Coal Company
In 1891, Frederik Kielgast went into partnership with his former rival, Thomas Alstrup, and in 1904, together with the other major merchants F.A. Harder, Åge Selchau, J. Kr. Stilling (Stillingsgård) and Albert Dige (Trælast) A/S Skive Kulkompagni, so at this time Kielgast was responsible for large parts of the commission trade in Skive. Kielgast also made a name for himself politically, sitting on Skive City Council from 1885 to 1909, and the year before in 1908 during the royal visit he was appointed Knight of Dannebrog for his commitment to the city.
His family
Frederiks Kielgast’s only son, Knud Kielgast (1881-1925), joined the company in 1907 and took over his father’s large company in 1919 as sole owner and director of Skive Kulkompagni. He also served as German consul in the city.
Frederik Kielgast’s second son, Svend Kielgast (1879-1915), graduated from Viborg Katedralskole in 1897 and received his Master of Laws in 1905 in Copenhagen, where he took up the position of chief attorney in 1906 until his death in 1915, aged just 36.
Frederik Kielgast lived privately, first in Olsens Gaard by Rådhustorvet and then in Frederiksgade, which later became the home of plumber Stærk.
Legacy
Many people believe that Frederik Kielgast settled on the newly built Kielgastvej and that it was therefore named after him, but Frederik Kielgast did not live on Kielgastvej, as shown above, but his son Knud did. Kielgastvej was originally called Skrivertoften (from 1905), but when his son Knud Kielgast was the first to build his villa on the road, he is said to have taken down the Skrivertoften road sign at some point during World War I and replaced it with Kielgastvej as a tribute to his father, so Kielgastvej is named after merchant F.J.C. Kielgast.
F.J.C. Kielgast was often referred to as the giant with the long white beard that stretched far down his chest.
Sources and literature
- Thiesen, Charles: Bogen om Skive, 1926 p. 423-424.
- Christmas in Skive 1966 (vol. 37). p. 16