Dorthea Hassager

Who was Dorthea Hassager?

Dorthea Hansine Hassager was a Danish philanthropist and founder of Hassagers Collegium the youngest of the "old dormitories" of the University of Copenhagen.

Coming from a family of clergymen, Dorthea Hansine Hørning was married at the age of 17 to the 16 years older priest Carl Hassager, and she followed him around Denmark in the various parishes in which he preached. Though childless the couple managed to amass quite a modest fortune through the years.

They purchased a large house in the town of Frederiksberg near Copenhagen in which they planned to spend their retirement, but Carl Hassager died before they could move to the capital.

Dorthea Hassager lived as a widow in Frederiksberg for more than twenty years, where she attended lectures at the University of Copenhagen and played hostess for a steady stream of relatives and friends.

Through her Will she had a dormitory build in her backyard and she founded a scholarship for students coming from the parishes where her husband preached. The dormitory consisted of ten single rooms, rent free and for students of the University of Copenhagen who have passed at least two years.