1873.12.18 English

RMH's superior, Councillor J. P. Trap - director of the Royal Institute. This picture is scanned from "Royal Danish Merit medals".

Honourable Privy Councillor Trap[1]

 

Sir, It is my duty to inform you that the old and faithful maid servant of our institute, the deaf-mute  Ane Marie Andersen, passed away gently and quietly this morning at half past seven after a short and painless illness. She was born May 6, 1799, and has served the institute from May 1, 1824, in other words for close to 50 years. She kept her childlike, always merry and gentle disposition until the very end.

 

 

                        Your obedient servant

 

 

18 December 1873                R.M.H.

 

 

Announcement for the newspapers[2]

 

The deaf-mute maid servant Ane Marie Andersen, born in May 1799 and after having served at the Royal Institute for the Deaf-Mute for around 50 years has been called home by the Lord on May 18 after a short and painless illness. She was a faithful and loyal servant , always happy to perform her duty and kept her gentle disposition until the very end.

 

 Copenhagen December 20, 1873                 R.Malling Hansen

 

 

The funeral takes place from the chapel of rest of the Assistens Cemetary[3] Tuesday May 23 at 10 o’clock.

 

 

[1] CB/SA: This is a handwritten letter to the famous J.P.Trap (1810-85), friend of two Danish kings – Frederik VII and Christian IX – and the author of numerous books on the geography of Denmark and Schleswig etc. He was also RMH’s immediate superior in his capacity as Director of the Institute for the deaf-mute. We have one more letter to him, dated 1882-01-28, and also a letter from RMH to his wife, Malvine Trap, on the occasion of his death (letter dated 1885-01-24).

[2] CB: The text bears witness to RMH’s great appreciation of the contribution of his employees. Just imagine – Ane Marie Andersen has served the institute since 1824 – 11 years before RMH was born! Another interesting aspect is that at the time there was no old-age pension – work continued until death!

[3] Almost impossible to decipher the name of the cemetery, but JMC reads it as ‘Assistens’.