Johan Ludvig Mansa was a German-Danish landscape gardener, born April 10, 1740 in Zweibrücken

Zweibrücken

Zweibrücken is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.- Name :Zweibrücken appears in Latin texts as Geminus Pons and Bipontum, in French texts as Deux-Ponts. The name derives from Middle High German Zweinbrücken...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, where his father was palace gardener. In 1765 he went to 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...

 and was gardener at Fuglsang Manor, Lolland

Lolland

Lolland is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of 1,243 square kilometers . Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland...

. In the 1780s, he was appointed as a gardener and steward of Marienlyst Castle

Marienlyst Castle

Marienlyst Castle, Danish Marienlyst Slot, is a palacial residence located in Helsingør, Denmark. It was named after King Frederik V of Denmark's second wife, Juliana Maria the queen consort of Denmark and Norway. The building formerly served as a royal pavilion of Kronborg Castle and was mostly...

 in Helsingør, Denmark and in 1794 as a gardener at Frederiksborg Castle. Finally in 1799 he was employed as a gardener and steward at Fredensborg Palace

Fredensborg Palace

Fredensborg Palace, , is a palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand in Denmark. It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn residence, and is often the site of important state visits and events in the Royal Family...

. The majority of his work was in transforming formal French gardens into English landscape gardens. Some remnants of his works can still be seen on the slope north of Marienlyst Castle in Helsingør as well as a few manors and palaces around Denmark.

Books

He was the author of "Havekatekismus eller Grundregler for nyttige Havevæxters Dyrkning i Danmark" (Basic rules for growing of useful plants in Denmark) published in 1789 and won the Kgl Danske Landhusholdningsselskab prize. One of his other books "Gardening structures the English way" also contributed to the his large influence on the development of gardening and horticulture in Denmark. He was greatly appreciated by King Frederik VI of Denmark who decorated him with the Order of the Dannebrog

Order of the Dannebrog

The Order of the Dannebrog is an Order of Denmark, instituted in 1671 by Christian V. It resulted from a move in 1660 to break the absolutism of the nobility. The Order was only to comprise 50 noble Knights in one class plus the Master of the Order, i.e. the Danish monarch, and his sons...

 

Marriage

On July 1, 1772 he married Anne Christine Voigt and then after her death, married Louise Toxwærd (b. December 31, 1769 d. March 23, 1853) on Oct 9, 1791 with whom he had ten children, six sons and four daughters. Louise was the daughter of merchant Henrik Christian Toxwærd, owner of Louis grove on Falster

Falster

Falster is an island in south-eastern Denmark with an area of 514 km² and 43,398 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010. Located in the Baltic sea, it is part of Region Sjælland and is administered by Guldborgsund Municipality...

and Anna Margrethe Hauen Dorff.

Order of the Dannebrog

See also

Books

Journals

Online