Personal life

Herman Bagger was born in Lemvig

Lemvig

Lemvig is a municipality in Region Midtjylland on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in west Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 510 km², and has a population of 22,067 . Its mayor is Erik Flyvholm, a member of the Venstre political party.The main town and the site of its municipal...

 in Jutland

Jutland

Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 to physician Eggert Christian Bagger (1768-1812) and his wife Claudine Margrethe (1774-1838), née Borgen. He had one older brother and three younger siblings.

On 9 June 1829 he married Marthe Elise Winther (1802-1870). The couple had five sons and one daughter.

Career

Bagger was a jurist by education. At the time of his marriage, he worked as a headmaster at a school in Drøbach

Drøbak

Drøbak is an unincorporated city and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Akershus county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,358 inhabitants....

.

In 1837, the year local government was introduced in Norway, Bagger was elected as the first mayor of Gjerpen

Gjerpen

Gjerpen is a former township which is now part of the municipality of Skien, in Telemark county, Norway.-Location:The parish of Gjerpen was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 . According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 4,381. Gjerpen was located east of the city...

 municipality. He held this position until 1841. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1839, representing the rural constituency of Bratsberg Amt. However, he was not re-elected in 1842. The seat was taken by Frederik Charlow Sophus Borchsenius.

In 1842 Bagger started the newspaper Skiensposten

Skiensposten

Skiensposten was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien.Skiensposten was started in 1842 by Herman Bagger, a Danish immigrant who had worked as a jurist, teacher, farmer and politician. Before the end of the year, however, he grew tired and resigned as chief editor...

, but he grew tired and resigned as chief editor later that year. Skiensposten survived for the time being, but went defunct in 1843. The same year, however, Bagger returned to the newspaper business, as co-editor of Bratsberg Amtstidende

Bratsberg Amtstidende

Bratsberg Amtstidende was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county. It also held the names Ugeblad for Skien og Omegn , Bratsberg Amtstidende og Correspondent and Skiensposten ....

, founded by Peter Feilberg

Peter Feilberg

Peter Fredrik Feilberg was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician.He was born in Tønsberg. His family had immigrated from Flensburg, Southern Schleswig in 1787. Peter Feilberg was a dyer by education, and operated a printing press...

 in 1840. The name was changed to Bratsberg Amtstidende og Correspondent. Bagger left already in 1844. He formed his own newspaper Bratsberg Amts Correspondent, later renamed Correspondenten

Correspondenten

Correspondenten was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Skien in Telemark county.Bratsberg Amts Correspondent was started on 1 January 1844, and changed its name in August 1846. It was the project of politician Herman Bagger. In 1842 he had started the newspaper Skiensposten, but he grew tired and...

. At the same time, Feilberg's newspaper reverted its name to Bratsberg Amtstidende. Bratsberg Amtstidende and Correspondenten would from now on become fierce rivals. Correspondenten, like Skiensposten before it, was pressed by Jens Melgaard, who owned a pressing plant rivalling that of Peter Feilberg. Bagger used his newspaper for political purposes, such as when he stood for election in 1844. He attacked the incumbent Frederik Charlow Sophus Borchsenius, who in turn was defended by Feilberg in the Bratsberg Amtstidende. In the end, Borchsenius was elected, not Bagger.

By that time Bagger had moved to the city, Skien

Skien

' is a city and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Skien. Skien is also the administrative centre of Telemark county....

. He had several supporters there, and was able to be elected mayor of that city. He served as mayor from 1847 to 1848 and 1850 to 1851, alternating with his friend Hans Severin Arentz

Hans Severin Arentz

Hans Severin Arentz was a Norwegian politician.He was born in Farsund to Jens Christian Arentz and his wife Anne Elisabeth , née Urbye. He later moved to Skien, and married 8 October 1838 to Margrethe Cathrine Stockmann...

. When living in Skien, which was a constituency of its own, Bagger was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1848, 1851, 1854, 1862 and 1868. His rival Borchsenius was elected as well, from Bratsbergs Amt

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

 in 1848, 1854, 1857 and 1862.

Throughout this period, Bagger edited the Correspondenten. He notably supported the radical politician Peter Bøyesen

Peter Bøyesen

Peter Johan Bøyesen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.-Personal life:Peter Johan Bøyesen was born in Western Porsgrund 1799 as the son of shipmaster and boat pilot Peter Bøye Larsen....

, and supported Hans

Hans Møller

Hans Møller was a Norwegian politician, consul and businessperson.-Personal life:Hans Møller was born to Hans Eleonardus Møller and Amborg Laura , née Aall. As such his grandfathers were ship-owner Hans Eleonardus Møller, Sr. and statesman Jacob Aall...

 and Hans Eleonardus Møller

Hans Eleonardus Møller

Hans Eleonardus Møller was a Norwegian politician and businessperson.-Personal life:Hans Eleonardus Møller was born in 1804 to Hans Eleonardus Møller, Sr. and Inger , née Aall. He had two younger sisters Simonine and Marianne...

 during the feud in the marine insurance

Marine insurance

Marine insurance covers the loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport or cargo by which property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and final destination....

 business of Porsgrund

Porsgrunn

is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....

. In his later years Bagger became more politically conservative. Bagger retired in 1874. Varden

Varden

Varden is a local newspaper published in Skien, Norway. It was first established with a test issue on 17 December 1874, with Johan Christian Tandberg Castberg as its first editor-in-chief. It has a circulation of 27,341, of whom 25,859 are subscribers...

, which was founded in 1874, would later take over as the number one newspaper in Skien.

He died in 1880.