Søren Frich

Søren Frich (20 September 1827 – 7 May 1901) was a Danish engineer, factory owner and city Councillor who built the Frichs company, with headquarters and main production in Aarhus. He became one of the largest employers in Aarhus and the Frichs factory became one of the only locomotive producers in Denmark. Frich was elected to the Aarhus city council three times.

Søren Frich was born in Nim Parish in the manor Bolund west of Horsens in 1827. He was the son of Johan Peter Frich and Johanne Marie Harpøth. His father was a lawyer and later a member of Landstinget. From 1842 to 1845, Frich attended the technical school in Aarhus and then moved to Copenhagen where he attended Polyteknisk Læreanstalt (Polytechnic Academy). Between 1848 and 1850, he served with the Danish military during the First Schleswig War. He was wounded in the Battle of Isted and lost a lung to a gunshot wound. After convalescing, he moved to Frederiksværk to study iron casting. Two years later, in 1852, he took a study trip to England and Belgium. On this trip, he noticed how far ahead other countries were in terms of industrial production, compared to Denmark.