Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen

Silhouette of Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen from around 1790. Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen (1770–1820) was a Norwegian businessman, ship owner and timber merchant.

Personal life Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen grew up in at Mæla Manor in Gjerpen (Mæla gård i Gjerpen) in the municipality of Skien in Telemark. He was one of the sons of the wholesaler, timber merchant and ship owner Diderich von Cappelen (1734–1794) and his first wife Petronelle Pedersdatter Juel (1737–1785). He had two older brothers, Diderik von Cappelen and Peder von Cappelen, a sister and one younger half-brother.

However, during the Gunboat War (1807-1814), British Naval forces conducted an economic war, regularly seizing merchant vessels. The British Navy also conducted raids and disrupted Norwegian foreign trade. The subsequent Norwegian economic depression had a very negative impact on von Cappelen's mercantile business. He was virtually bankrupt upon his death in 1820.