Georg Carstensen
Johan Bernhard Georg Carstensen (31 August 1812 – 4 January 1857) was a Danish army officer and one of the developers of Tivoli Gardens. He spent most of his childhood in the Near East. He travelled widely and had a career in the military Royal Guards, reaching the rank of lieutenant.
Also recorded as Johan Bernhard Georg Carstensen
Georg Carstensen
Daderot · CC0
- Name
- Georg Carstensen
- Born
- 31 August 1812
- Died
- 4 January 1857
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Denmark
- Occupation
- entrepreneur · military officer · writer
- Education
- Herlufsholm School · boarding school
- Languages
- Danish
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Johan Bernhard Georg Carstensen (31 August 1812 – 4 January 1857) was a Danish army officer and one of the developers of Tivoli Gardens. He spent most of his childhood in the Near East. He travelled widely and had a career in the military Royal Guards, reaching the rank of lieutenant.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Georg Carstensen. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q946354 · wikipedia · Georg Carstensen
In this article
Biography
Biography
He attended boarding school at Herlufsholm kostskole. In 1839, Carstensen moved to Copenhagen permanently and published the periodical publications Portefeuillen and Figaro. Between 1843 and 1848, Carstensen was active in the development of Tivoli Gardens and Casino Theatre (Copenhagen) after which he joined the First Schleswig War. He learned that he was no longer required in Tivoli shortly after he returned. He was thought to have abandoned the project as he did not extend the license of the construction. Following the disagreement with others in the Tivoli Gardens management, Carstensen travelled to the Danish West Indies and joined the army there. He was married to the daughter of an island planter and assisted in management of the property. He subsequently spent time in New York City where he designed the New York Crystal Palace – an exhibition building constructed for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853 – in collaboration with the German architect Charles Gildemeister.

Bust of Georg Carstensen in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark
Harvey Barrison from Massapequa, NY, USA · Copenhagen_2013 05 20_0769

The officer and entrepreneur Georg Carstensen is best remembered as founder of the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. Marstrand's portrait shows his characteristic lock of hair at the ears and his octagonal glasses.
Wilhelm Marstrand · Otto Marstrand, Maleren Wilhelm Marstrand, page 93.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Georg Carstensen • Born — 31 August 1812 • Died — 4 January 1857 • Allegiance — Danish • Branch — Army • Rank — Lieutenant • Unit — Royal Guards
Alhambra
Alhambra
In 1855, Carstensen returned to Copenhagen and attempted to construct an establishment to rival Tivoli Gardens, the Alhambra in Frederiksberg. The only reminiscent left of this failed project is a street named Alhambravej. The establishment failed to be completed during Carstensen's lifetime. He died on 4 January 1857 at age 44.
Relatives
Relatives
• Illustration — Carstensen's tombstone in Copenhagen's Garrison Cemetery. Georg's sister, Annette Adelaide Christine Carstensen, was the mother of Sir Robert Hay-Drummond-Hay, whose second wife Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay was the first woman to travel airborne from Europe to the US as well as the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in the air. Both of these were achieved aboard a Zeppelin.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1812
Georg Carstensen was born on 31 August 1812.
1857
Georg Carstensen died on 4 January 1857.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Algiers.
Birth place
Copenhagen.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Georg Carstensen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q946354: Georg Carstensen
General reference · Wikidata
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
His recorded language was Danish. He was the child of J. Carstensen and Anna Magdalena Ulrich. Recorded with the occupation writer. Recorded as entrepreneur, military officer and writer.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,451 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Georg BrittingAuthor
- Georg BüchmannAuthor
- Georg BydlinskiAuthor
- Georg CalixtusAuthor
- Georg Christian DieffenbachAuthor
- Georg Christian LehmsAuthor
- Georg Christoph BachAuthor
- Georg Daniel HirtzAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Georg Carstensen?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.