Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen

Who was Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen?

Wincentz Thurmann Ihlen was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist.

He was born in Holmestrand as the son of Nils Ihlen and Barbara Wincentz Thurmann. His brother Jacob Thurmann Ihlen was a politician. In November 1852 Wincentz married Birgitte Elisabeth Mørch, granddaughter of Constitutional founding father Ole Clausen Mørch, and the couple had one daughter and three sons. His oldest son Nils Claus Ihlen would become a member of the national parliament and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During the 1860s Ihlen started as an entrepreneur and bought several local enterprises and real estate. This included the farms at Haneborg, Granholt and Vittenberg, and the Nordby saw mill. Based at Fjellhamar Farm in Lørenskog, he built up a major complex of saw mills and grain mills, establishing the first industrial complex in Lørenskog. The background for the establishment was the new railway line that ran past Lørenskog, giving easy access to lumber from the inner parts of the country, as well as to the port in Oslo. The mills were owned proprietorially until they incorporated as the limited company A/S Fjeldhammer Brug in 1893, and the company has today become part of Icopal.