Harald Simonsen

Harald Simonsen (2 August 1873 – 3 February 1949) was a Danish timber merchant, brickyard owner and developer.

Early life and education Simonsen was born on 2 August 1873 in Copenhagen, the son of merchant Georg Harald Simonsen (1841–1890) and Caroline Jensen (1845–1913). He graduated from Nørrebros Latin- og realskole in 1889 and was then an apprentice for three years at B. Kromann jr. in Marstal before working first for the textile company v. Barm & Petersen in Flensburg and then for six years for Holger Petersen on Købmagergade in Copenhagen.

Career

In 1899, Simonsen started his own company which traded in building materials. The company grew rapidly. It purchased Niverød Brickworks in 1911, Snesere Brickworks in 1916 and later also Kollerup Brickworks. He was also a major importer of timber from Sweden and Finland. In 1918, when World War I had resulted in a shortage of cargo ships, he attracted media attention for converting a delivery of timber from Finland into a gigantic raft, naming it Refanut and towing it to Denmark. In 1926, he acquired a large piece of land at Svanemøllen in Copenhagen from the estate of S. N. Meyer. He constructed Svanemøllegården and Ulfsgård and sold off the rest of the land in lots. He was later also involved in a number of other development projects, both alone and in collaboration with others. These included Lindevangsgården, Hostrups Have, Ringkøbinggården, Hollændervænget and Thorsgård.