Kristoffer Gabel

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Kristoffer Gabel (January 6, 1617 – October 13, 1673) was a Danish statesman.

He was born at Glückstadt. His father, Wulbern Gabel, originally a landscape painter and subsequently recorder of Glückstadt, was killed at the siege of the fortress there, by the German Imperial forces, in 1628. Kristoffer's name is first recorded in 1639, as overseer and accountant at the court of Duke Frederick. When the duke ascended the throne as King Frederick III of Denmark, Gabel followed him to Copenhagen as his private secretary and man of business, holding great influence over the irresolute king.

During the brief interval between King Charles X's first and second attack upon Denmark, Gabel was employed in several secret missions to Sweden; and he took part in the intrigues which resulted in the autocratic revolution of 1660. While not the originator of the revolution, he was certainly the chief intermediary between Frederick III and the Conjoined Estates in the mysterious conspiracy which established absolutism in Denmark. His activities won the king's lifelong gratitude. He was enriched, ennobled, and in 1664 made governor of Copenhagen. From 1660 to 1670 he was the most important figure at court, and very largely employed in financial and diplomatic affairs. During this period he carried out a pro-Dutch foreign policy while his domestic policy was affected by laziness and corruption.

When Frederick III died, in February 1670, Gabel's power was at an end. The new ruler, Christian V, hated him, and accusations against him poured in from every quarter. When, on April 18, 1670, he was dismissed, there was no public sympathy for a man who had grown wealthy in a time of widespread poverty.