Jacob Holm

Jacob Holm was a Danish businessman who founded the company Jacob Holm & Sønner which works to this day. In his days, Jacob Holm was one of the most prominent and affluent figures in Denmark thanks to his business achievements and personal integrity.

Jacob Holm was born at Skafterup into a poor family raised by a single mother. After serving his apprenticeship in Næstved, he moved to Copenhagen in 1790 where he started to work for one of his brothers. Through hard work Jacob succeeded to set up a grocery store at Christianshavn in Copenhagen, Denmark, and eventually to expand his business to shipping, shipbuilding, international trade and manufacture.

Realizing the advantages of establishing his own production of items for trading, Holm started to produce glue, candles, oil, starch, powder and ships sails. In 1811 he established a rope walk, the first industrialized production of rope in Denmark which was highly in demand in shipbuilding industry.

Eventually, Holm owned more than a hundred ships and his shipping was the largest in the state for a while. His fleet was engaged in trade with various areas such as Danish India and the Danish West Indies. One of his ships led the first whaling expedition to the Southern Ocean in the Danish history. Holm was also the owner of the first Danish ships to sail around the world completing three such voyages between 1839 and 1845.

Holm built the first example of workers housing in Denmark at Applebyes Plads, better known as Holm's Houses which survived until mid-20th century.