”Carsten Brebøl was an eccentric. He was an agitator, always with a sparkle in his eye and never afraid to be the life of the party. In many ways he was akin to Simon Spies,” Bent Lindgaard reveals.
Today Bent Lindgaard makes up a fourth of the board, governing the legacy of Carsten Brebøl. But Bent Lindgaard knew Carsten Brebøl all the way from childhood, since they went to school together.
“Carsten never married and never had children. That is the short explanation for the existence of the Carsten Brebøl-foundation.”
Foundation with 83 million kroner
In an economic sense Carsten Brebøl did remarkably well. Today the foundation administers a fortune totalling 83 million kroner.
The foundation has seven paragraphs of purpose. One of these concerns the commemoration of his name. Carsten Brebøl liked public mention – in that aspect as well he had a great deal in common with Simon Spies who coined the phrase; ‘bad review is better than no review.”
Probably the most curious paragraph is the one about the protection of the Danish chicken dog as a race.
“Yes, that paragraph owes to the fact that Carsten Brebøl was a very keen hunter. And the foundation actually has donated money to the work attempting to preserve the Danish chicken dog as a race. But since you are asking, it is probably limited, what an endangered Danish dog race and a 30 meter long Viking ship have in common.”
Hit in the gut
Bent Lindgaard explains that in another paragraph of purpose – the one most likely to match the Sea Stallion – it is stated that the foundation must work for the preservation of the Danish cultural heritage.
“This stems from Carsten Brebøl being very patriotic. He had a vivid interest in the great events in Danish history…and in that view it is evident that the Sea Stallion represents the absolute prime of Denmark: The Vikings were unequalled warriors, sailors and merchants. On the board we were hit in the gut by the project about the Sea Stallion. And Carsten Brebøl would have loved it. The Sea Stallion represents a time, when Denmark was in the lead in our part of the World.”
Carsten Brebøl died at only 51 years of age. But in his short life he was a hedonist, who loved to be the life of the party. Hence the foundation also has the purpose – completely in the spirit of Brebøl – to give money to public festivities.
From building to shipping
“Carsten Brebøl highly appreciated a good laugh in a jolly crowd. Once a year Carsten Brebøl met up with some friends at their messenger pigeon club. Every participant brought a pigeon, which was let go from a designated place in Chalottenlund, where Brebøl lived. The man, whose pigeon was the last to reach goal, would have to buy lunch in a pub on Ordrupvej. And this could easily become a joke amounting to 40,000 kroner, with 30 members of the club”.
Carsten Brebøl’s fortune started growing, when Brebøl built houses on the outskirts of Copenhagen, but his ambition was to one day become a shipping magnate. And he did. Four dry cargo ships were under his flag, when things went best.
A broad smile on his lip
Carsten Brebøl died in 1997. Ten years later a water play ground at Open Air Museum is at its completion. And the World’s biggest reconstruction of a Viking ship is sailing from Roskilde to Dublin. Both projects marked with his financial fingerprint.
“No doubt about it, Carsten Brebøl is sitting up in Heaven right now with a broad smile on his lip. And he thinks the 2 million kroner have been spent very well. You can be certain, he is laughing,” Bent Lindgaard finishes.