Baltzar von Platen (1766–1829)

Count Baltzar Bogislaus von Platen (29 May 1766 – 6 December 1829) was a Swedish naval officer and statesman.[1] He was born on the island of Rügen (now in Germany) to Philip Julius Bernhard von Platen, Field Marshal and the Swedish Governor General of Pomerania, and Regina Juliana von Usedom.

Count Baltzar von Platen
Governor-general of Norway
In office
1827–1829
Preceded byJohan August Sandels
Succeeded byJohan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg
Personal details
Born(1766-05-29)29 May 1766
Rügen, Swedish Pomerania
Died6 December 1829(1829-12-06) (aged 63)
Christiania, Norway
SpouseHedvig Elisabeth Ekman
OccupationNaval officer, Architect

Swedish Navy

At age 13 Baltzar entered the Royal Swedish Navy where he served with distinction until resigning in 1800, having attained the rank of captain.

Göta Canal

Following the revolution in 1809 he became a member Government and, in the following year, received a promotion to rear admiral. He was also made chairman of the Göta Canal directorate charged with constructing a canal across Sweden. The canal, following a design by Thomas Telford, would only be completed in 1832, after von Platen's death, but during its construction, he did discover two skilled mechanical engineering brothers John Ericsson and Nils Ericson.

Honors

He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1815. He was appointed Governor of Norway on 26 November 1827, a position which he held until his death in Christiania (modern name Oslo), the Norwegian capital, on 6 December 1829.

One of the early vessels built at Hammarsten shipyard in Norrköping was named after Baltzar von Platen in 1834.[2]

Burial site

He was married to Hedvig Elisabeth Ekman. Baltzar von Platen's grave is at the side of the Göta Canal in Motala, where it is something of a tourist attraction, especially for canal visitors.

References
  1. "Baltzar von Platen". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. Lennart Bornmalm; Bosse Lagerqvist (November 2014). "Eric nordevall II- A reconstruction of a paddle steamer, an intensive historical project". Industrial Archaeology Review. 36 (2): 105–106. doi:10.1179/0309072814Z.00000000033. S2CID 108648965.


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