Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann (13 July 1724 – 16 February 1782) was a German-born merchant, banker, nobleman, planter and politician. During the Seven Years' War, he speculated heavily on currency debasement in close association with his business partner Abel Seyler. After supporting Denmark–Norway as the head of the banking system in Denmark, he was rewarded by becoming a member of the Danish nobility. Eventually, he became a plantation owner (and slave owner) and Danish finance minister. From 1774 onwards, von Schimmelmann was involved in the project of digging the Eider Canal. He died in 1782.
Early life and career
His father Diedrich Jacob was a merchant and city councillor in Demmin, Swedish Pommerania, who sent him out learning the trade in Stettin. In 1746 he set up a supplies store in sugar, coffee and tobacco in Dresden. On 4 March 1747, at the age of 23, he married then 17-year-old Caroline Tugendreich Friedeborn. In 1755, Schimmelmann was responsible for tariff collection in Kursachsen. By the end of 1756 he delivered grain and flour to the Prussian army and was appointed as Geheimrat. In December 1756 or 1757 he bought pillaged Meissen porcelain from the Prussian king, which were shipped in 110 cases to Hamburg, and auctioned on 11 July 1758. (He secretly returned a part to the Saxon king August III.) In April Frederick the Great ordered him to contact Veitel Heine Ephraim and Daniel Itzig and deliver silver to the two mint masters who were leasing all the Prussian mints. Already in July 1758 Schimmelmann leased the mint in Schwerin (Mecklenburg) from Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and started to compete with Ephraim & Itzig. Schimmelmann produced debased coins, but with a higher silver content than the debased Prussian coins. Schimmelmann employed more than a hundred people at the end of 1759; one year later already almost 300 people.
Connection with Denmark
The city of Hamburg did not allow him to settle within the walls, but with a trick, using his bookkeeper he succeeded to buy a mansion in 1758. In 1759 he bought the Ahrensburg estate in Holstein (paying cash) and became a Danish citizen. Early 1761 Schimmelmann leased the mints in Neustrelitz and Rethwisch, Stormarn and ordered Abel Seyler and his partner Johann Martin Tilleman to produce worse coins. The head of the Danish government, Count von Bernstorff, realized how Schimmelmann's talents as a merchant could benefit the state of Denmark during those times of financial duress. In July 1761 Schimmelmann became a financial advisor for the king, Frederik V of Denmark. Schimmelmann introduced an extraordinary income tax, to be paid in silver, which led to unrest in the country. In 1762 he bought an estate in Wandsbek, closer to Hamburg. He appointed Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi to improve the refining of silver and copper from debased coins through cupellation. Justi succeeded by using coal.
In cooperation with his business partner Abel Seyler Schimmelmann produced large amounts of coins (so-called Heckmünzen), that were exported to various German states during the war. The furnace in Rethwisch was taken over by Veitel Ephraim in 1762 and stopped.
The financial situation in Denmark at the time was dire, due to the large army of 20–25.000 soldiers stationed in Holstein, the rearmament following the aggression of Peter III of Russia in 1762, after the death of Frederick Charles, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. Because it was hard for the Danish state to get loans at the time, Denmark had tried to get funds through seignorage, but this destabilized both the state and the banks responsible. Lacking men of financial capacity, Schimmelmann's talents and reputation was utilized to get favourable loans from Amsterdam to keep the Danish state and financial system afloat. In the years 1762–1765, Schimmelmann continued his work of securing the Danish government, sometimes even through loans of his own.
Schimmelmann on his own part benefited from the connection with the Danish government both due to Denmark's neutrality being beneficial for trade, and for reasons of prestige. Negotiations soon led to Schimmelmann being appointed as second in command to the Danish attaché in Hamburg, and the connection with Denmark was solidified by buying property in Copenhagen and Himmerland. Schimmelmann received the title of Baron of Lindenborg and the Order of the Dannebrog (April 1762).