The Family

The oldest Danish member of the family is Bernt Suhr (born approx. 1615). He immigrated from Bremen and served – among others – Christian the 5th as manager of the Kings Brewery. His second oldest son, Frederik Suhr (born 1644) was district revenue officer for Maribo and Aalholm districts – along with other jobs. One of his sons, Bernt Frederik Suhr (born 1677), became priest and rural dean of Købelev and Vindeby. He had a son, Johan Peter Suhr (born 1712), and several other children.

Johan Peter Suhr initiated an apprenticeship in 1728 at a flax merchant on Gammeltorv in Copenhagen. He married the flax mechant’s daughter, Dorthea Aagaard, in 1749, and took over the business, which became the commercial house of J.P. Suhr & Son.

J.P. Suhr’s son, Ole Bernt Suhr, took over the commercial house as a 23-year old. Previously he’d married Dorothea Beckman. At Ole Bernt Suhr’s death in 1815 his second youngest son, the 23-year old Johannes Theodorus Suhr, took over the management of the company. In 1816, Johannes Theodorus Suhr married Caroline Falch. The couple didn’t have any children, and after the death of Johannes Theodorus Suhr in 1858, most of his significant fortune was tied up in The Suhr Foundation. The 1st division of this benefits descendants of Johannes Theodorus Suhr’s parents, merchant Ole Bernt Suhr and wife Dorothea Beckman, while the 2nd division is to benefit descendant of Caroline Falch’s sister, Anna Elisabeth Dorthea Meincke (born Falch), among others.