Michael Nielsen was a wholesaler in Skive and mayor of the city from 1921-27. As conservative mayor, he was responsible for the expansion of the municipality with Skive Landsogn Resen and a major port expansion. He sought compromise in his politics and collaborated on several major projects in the city.
However, with his involvement in the collapse of Skive Bank, Nielsen’s business collapsed and the great influence he had on the city weakened.
Early life
Nielsen was born in Aarhus, of a merchant family, which is why he himself was educated in the same profession. First as a teacher in various places, he graduated in 1893 from Jyllands handelsakademi in Aarhus.
Nielsen subsequently worked in Randers, where he succeeded in creating good personal relationships and building trust so that many people wanted to be his customers.
There was a desire to have his own independent business, but it was very expensive. There was a great will, perhaps especially to be able to build up a good enough economy and position to marry his fiancée Marie Brask, affectionately called “Mems”. Where the economy didn’t work out, personal relationships had to, and Nielsen had built up so much personal trust that he was able to take out a large loan of DKK 50,000 without providing collateral to buy his own business.
The choice of business fell on Poul Hestbek’s wholesale business at Vestergade 10, which Nielsen took over in 1899.
The business until the crash
The new store on Vestergade was Skive’s first actual grocery store, but the trade included a wide range of agricultural goods.
At this time, business was still very personally oriented, and Nielsen cycled around to different customers to build a personal relationship. This was a slow way of doing business, and Nielsen himself believed that in his later years, much more could be achieved in the same amount of time. It also meant that the home, and therefore Marie Brask Nielsen’s role as representative, was of great importance to the running of the business.
In 1907, Nielsen sold the business and continued as department manager, probably as part of a larger acquisition of similar businesses from the limited company “Fr. Th. Adolphs Enke”. Nielsen continued as business manager until 1917 when he bought the wholesale company personally again.
In 1909, the company moved to Nørregade 40, from where it was run from then on.
In addition to the wholesale business, Nielsen invested in a number of other businesses including Gammelgård Teglværk in Brårup, which he bought in 1918 together with Poul Larsen and Knud Kielgast, a coffee roastery and the establishment of the first gas station in Skive at Nørregade 42 in 1921.
As an important businessman and for a time the largest taxpayer in Skive, Nielsen was elected to several positions of trust, including in the “Jyske Handelsstands Centralorganisation” and from 1913 as chairman of Skive Handelsforening.
Politics as a city council member
From the very beginning of Nielsen’s work in the city, he had political influence. In 1904, he helped found the Skive Conservative Association, and in 1919 he was elected chairman of the association.
In 1907, Nielsen became a member of the city council for the Right after a by-election was held for pharmacist Johan Møller. The seat that Nielsen took over was initially only elected by the highest taxpayers in Skive, who had special privileges in the election process until 1908.
As a member of the city council, Nielsen participated in the expansion of the Skive gas and electricity works. Nielsen himself bought the land adjacent to the works and sold it to the municipality at a very favorable price. For this, he was praised by Skive’s then mayor Hjalmar Kjems.
Nielsen played a similar role in the expansion of Skive Hospital. Nielsen bought a plot of land that was sold to the municipality and secured the land needed to expand the hospital so that, for example, the epidemic building could be built.
In addition, as a city councilor, Nielsen was responsible for improving sanitation in the city. The city was still very dirty and disease epidemics were spreading. By collecting the waste in bins, they wanted to clean up the city. In a very practical sense, Nielsen himself was responsible for delivering the bins from his business. At that time, the municipality still didn’t have an administration that could take care of this for the city’s inhabitants.
As Mayor 1921-27
In the 1921 election, Nielsen was elected mayor with the support of the Radical Left Party. At the re-election in 1925, it was not possible to create a majority for any mayor, Mellerup the indremissionist member of the “non-political association” would not vote for anyone and no majority could be created. Therefore, the post was chosen by lot, which Nielsen won. Despite this dubious mandate, the work in the city council went relatively smoothly. Although Nielsen was elected as a conservative, his politics were generally centrist and he was happy to work with all members of the city council. The extensive cooperation and the fact that Nielsen, for example, worked for an increase in municipal taxes meant that he was sometimes more popular with his opponents than his fellow party members on the city council.
As mayor, Nielsen was responsible for two major projects in the municipality:
The first was the incorporation of the urban settlement of Skive Landsogn Resen into Skive municipality. Skive town had grown towards Resen, but it was not part of the municipality and there were several practical reasons for wanting to expand Skive municipality to include the entire town. For example, the tax rate in Resen was only 5% compared to Skive’s 14%, which is why more people moved out there and gained tax advantages. An agreement was successfully negotiated, although several major compromises had to be made, with Skive municipality promising to pave the roads out there, and have a ten-year transition period where taxes increased slowly in the area.
The second project was the expansion of the harbor. It was a very large and expensive project with another harbor basin. The project was so big that there was a lot of doubt about the project and Nielsen himself says that he was scolded by the former conservative city councilor Frederik Kielgast. It was built and the trading opportunities for the city improved.
In 1927, Nielsen was forced to resign as mayor and council member, officially to devote himself to his business. However, there had been some controversy surrounding Nielsen’s person, especially from Eriksen-Noer, who was also a member of the conservative group. Eriksen-Noer criticized Nielsen’s compromise-seeking style, and Nielsen’s financial problems with Skive Bank that were becoming more apparent.
The Skive Bank crash and the time after
Speculation had put Michael Nielsen in deep financial trouble and after taking over debts from several business associates, Nielsen owed a very large amount to Skive Bank. Attempts were made to negotiate a settlement, but when the bank collapsed in 1928, there was nothing more to do. Michael Nielsen’s assets were liquidated in the process.
For Michael Nielsen, who had been a member of the bank’s board, there was also legal repercussions. Nielsen was sentenced to 60 days in prison for lying to the bank.
Nilsen was declared personally bankrupt in 1929, but there was still great confidence in him locally, and some of his friends helped set up the limited company “Michael Nielsen A/S”, which took over the wholesale business that Nielsen continued to run. In 1943, Nielsen was able to buy the shares in the company and was thus completely back on his feet.
After his wife’s death in 1951, Nielsen retired from the company.
As a person
Michael Nielsen married Marie Brask Nielsen in 1901 and they had 4 children together including Michael Brask Nielsen. From 1905 until bankruptcy, the family lived in Børsen, after the crash at Postgården in Østergade 7.
The many and deep friendships filled Nielsen’s life and were what made it possible to float on top when things went wrong. He was extremely well-liked by many different people. This relationship is perhaps best expressed in his relationship with the Aakjær song “Skuld gammel venskab rejn forgo” which was a regular feature when Nielsen held parties.
Sources
- Skive Folkeblad 12/2-1940
- Mortensen, Niels, Michael Nilsen wholesaler in Skive 1899-1957 mayor of Skive 1921-1927, 2011