Suhr, Ida Marie

Biography in relation to Skagen

Ida Suhr was friends with the Anchers, the Brøndum family, the Tuxens and even the royal couple King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine.

In 1909 she donated to Skagen Church the altarpiece by Joakim Skovsgaard

Inge Mejer Antonsen writes about Ida Marie Suhr:

One of the faithful guests at Brøndums Hotel for many years was Ida Marie Suhr, owner of Petersgaard on southern Zealand. In 1904, we find Ida Suhr listed for the first time in Brøndums Hotel's guest book from 10 to 28 September.

Ida Suhr was sometimes accompanied by friends connected with the world of art.

Tradition would have it that Ida Suhr spent the month of September in Skagen every year. According to the guest book, however, this was not the case. In the unbroken series of guest books from 1875 to 1929, she only appears, in addition to the years already mentioned, in 1908, -12, -13, -19, -26 and -28, and then for only a few days in several years. However, through letters we know of one occasion when she notoriously stayed there without being listed in the guest book. This need not be the only case, but one must probably revise the idea that the stay in Skagen was an annually recurring event.

Over the years, Ida Marie Suhr made her mark on the company around the long table in Brøndum's dining room by her mere presence. Several times she sent an animal, killed in the forests around Petersgaard, to Skagen, where it was prepared with care in Brøndum's famous kitchen. Happy thanks flowed to her, occasionally accompanied by a sketch of the participants in the meal.

Her joy and gratitude to Skagen also manifested itself in other ways. In 1909, for example, she donated an altarpiece to Skagen Church, painted by Joachim Skovgaard. This was done in connection with the renovation of the church that was taking place at the time by Ulrik Plesner and Thorvald Bindesbøll, both of whom have left a lasting mark on Skagen's artistic culture.

The Brøndum family became her close friends over the years and many letters - especially to Anna Ancher, née Brøndum, and Michael Ancher - have been preserved, as have their letters to her. The latter are still at Petersgaard.

Ida Suhr visited Michael and Anna Ancher in their home on Markvej, now a museum, and there in the west living room you can recognise her slender figure in a photograph from her late years, standing on the semicircular console table in front of one of the windows. But other memories of Ida Suhr, in addition to her many letters, can also be found in Ancher's house. In the pantry, where procelain was also kept, is the tea set that Ida Suhr acquired for her small parties in Skagen.

The set is for 12 people, with all the accessories in the form of two teapots, a teacup, a cream pot, a cream jug, a sugar bowl, two milk jugs of different sizes, a cake stand, a chopping board, a table ladle, a jam jar, a cigarette holder and a flower pot, making a total of 15 pieces of corpus work, to which must be added the 12 pairs of cups with side plates. Quite a substantial set.

It is not known when Ida Suhr acquired this distinguished set. What is certain is that it must have remained in Skagen from year to year and, after Ida Suhr's death in 1938, passed on to Helga Ancher. See it in the museum Michael and Anna Ancher's House.

Anecdote:

Ida Marie Suhr was one of the richest Danish women of the time. She was modest with herself, but unusually generous to others. Not just by throwing grand parties for the upper classes of the kingdom, but for the poor and weak in the parishes where she lived.

Among the general public she is perhaps best remembered for her donation of two Joakim Skovgaard altarpieces, one to Skagen Church. She also had a number of good and beautiful workers' residences built for the employees at Petersgaard, an asylum in Langebæk and a large recreation home, which she donated to the Municipality of Copenhagen.

In return, she expected to be obeyed when she made demands. The King himself, Christian X, whom she also saw in Skagen, felt her firmness of principle when he distractedly lit a cigarette during a visit to her mansion on Gl. Torv. "Your Majesty, in this house you don't smoke until you're invited," Ida Marie Suhr said firmly, whereupon the King was promptly told to take a hike.

At her death in 1938, she had guaranteed her servants three years' salary in retirement.

Michael Anchers sang at Ida Marie Suhr's birthday, which she always celebrated in Skagen at the Brøndums Hotel. Note the use of Skagen Hurrah