From 1782, Ernst von Schimmelmann became a key figure in Denmark's financial administration, part of a so-called Trefoil of Counts which was completed by A. P. Bernstorff and Christian Ditlev Reventlow. Due to disputes with the Minister of State, Ove Høegh-Guldberg, he had to resign in 1783 but the following year he took part in the coup d'état against Høegh-Guldberg and was appointed Minister of Finance in the new government, a post he held until 1813. From 1824 to 1831 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1790 he was awarded the Order of the Elephant, the highest Danish decoration, for his work.
He contributed to the abolition of slave trade in Denmark by showing in a report, how Danish slave trade was inhumane and led to deficits. In the report, he also accounted for how better treatment of slaves in the Danish West Indies could reduce the large child mortality, which each year substantially reduced the slave population. Schimmelmann was not against slavery, but rather the ghastly Atlantic slave trade. Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann was a slave owner himself, owning a large sugar plantation on the islandSaint Croix and being a shareholder in a company that transported slaves from the Gold Coast. He has been formally portrayed with his Negro slave in Copenhagen, where his family held several slaves. As Minister of Finance, Schimmelmann's work to stop slave trade was started in 1792. Previously there had been no restrictions to trade, and as a compensation, he introduced government-subsidized loans for purchasing slaves prior to the ban. The Schimmelmann family became the richest family in Denmark in the 18th century largely due to the sugar trade with the West Indies, and dominated the economic life in Denmark.
Family
In 1775, Schimmelmann married Countess Emilie Caroline Rantzau, who died of tuberculosis 5 years later at the age of 28. Schimmelmann remarried in 1782, and moved with his new wife Charlotte to his country home Sølyst in Klampenborg. In 1782, he raised a Classicistic monument called Emiliekilde in Klampenborg to the memory of his first wife. Ernst Heinrich von Schimmelmann and his family are buried in St. Peter's Church, Copenhagen, a church for which he was patron from 1800 until his death.
In culture and legacy
Schimmelmann is one of the characters in the historical novelDruknehuset by Maria Helleberg. The plot starts when a drenched corpse shows up on his doorstep. The street Schimmelmannsvej in Charlottenlund is named after him.
