Frederik Gabel

Frederik Gabel (1645–1708) was a Danish-Norwegian nobleman who served as Vice Governor-general of Norway from 1699 until his death in 1708.

Biography Frederik Gabel was the son of Christoffer Gabel (1617–1673) who held the trade monopoly for the Faroe Islands. From 1667 through 1685 he served as a diplomatic envoy in Paris and Moscow. He married Anne Cathrine Juul on 25 April 1671 in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. She was the daughter of former Vice Governor-general of Norway Ove Juel (1615–1686).

Gabel promoted a relatively progressive viewpoint, promoting increased separation between the administration in Denmark and that in Norway.

During the severe fire in Bergen in 1702, Gabel was present. He witnessed the obvious class hatred as the proletariat did nothing while the houses of the wealthy burned. After investigation, he concluded that great inequities had developed as the upper class had taken powers to themselves. He took those action he could, but lacking the power to act as broadly as he'd like by himself, he wrote letters to the King proposing reforms to reduce the class divide.