Jacob Fortling

Jacob Fortling (23 December 1711 – 16 July 1761) was a German-Danish sculptor, architect and manufacturer, described as one of the most industrious people in the Denmark of his day. He came to Denmark at age 18 and embarked on a successful career, first as a sculptor and later also as an architect. He was also engaged in the production of building materials, owning several quaries in Norway. Just outside Copenhagen, on Amager's east coast, he founded Kastrup Værk, a large industrial facility combining a lime plant, a brickyard and a pottery.

Kastrupgård, his former home, has been turned into an art museum.

Fortling was born on 23 December 1711 in Bayreuthin present day Germany. He trained as a mason and stone carver and came to Denmark to work on the many large Royal building projects under King Christian VI, collaborating with sculptors such as Jacques Saly and Simon Carl Stanley. He executed the Queen's Staircase at Christiansborg Palace.

In 1738 he received Danish citizenship and was in 1740 appointed Stone Carver to the Danish Court. In the 1740s he worked on Christiansborg Palace where his contributions included the Queen's Staircase. He also created the main staircases for Ledreborg Palace and the Holstein Mansion in Copenhagen (1756). At the naval base at Holmen, he created the King's Gate.

Fortling collaborated closely with both Lauritz de Thurah and Nicolai Eigtved, the two leading Danish architects of the time, and finally completed his training as an architect. He assimilated Eigtved's refined Rococo style and, after Eigtved's death in 1754, became de Thurah's right-hand man.

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