{{Short description|Danish gunsmith and inventor}} '''Christian Vilhelm Wilcken (Wilken) Kyhl''' (3 September 1762 – 4 July 1827) was a Danish gunsmith and inventor. He served as Royal Armourer (''Rustmester'') at the Arsenal in Copenhagen and headed the Kronborg Small Arms Factory at Helsingør. He owned the property at Ny Vestergade 9 in Copenhagen from 1797 and until his death.
==Biography== Kyhl was born on 3 September 1652 in Helsingør. On 11 September 1797, he purchased the property at Ny Vestergade 9 in Copenhagen from engraver Hans Qvist. He lived on the first floor in the front wing and his workshop was based in the eastern side wing. It had six employees.<ref name="Haugsted">{{cite web|url=https://idahaugsted.dk/ny-vestergade-9-og-dets-historie/|title=Ny Vestergade 9-9|language=Danish|website=idahaugsted.dk|date=3 October 2018 |accessdate=20 February 2020}}</ref>
Kyhl married Ane Elisabeth Hansen (1769–1808) in circa 1809. They had five children: Marie Sophie (1799–1833), Abigael Margrethe (1801–), Thomas Herman (1803–1820), Frederik (1805-1874) and twin sisters Dorothea Johanne (1805–) and Cicilie Christiane (1806–). His wife died in 1808 and he was then married second time to Ane Dorothea Hansen (1776–1814) in July 1809, and had three more daughters: Ane Elisabeth Abigael (1810-1848), Ane Christiane (1814–) and Christiane Margrethe (1812, died as an infant). His second wife died in labour just 37 years old in 1819. Kyhl died in September 1827 and was buried from the Church of Our Lady.<ref name="Haugsted"/>
==Legacy== [[File:Ny Vestergade 9 - No. 9.jpg|thumb|The key stone with the house number and the relief of the two crossed pistols]] Kyhl's most significant invention was an internal gun lock.<ref name="Haugsted"/> Small arms manufactured by him are relatively rare but occasionally sold by auction houses.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lauritz.com/da/auktion/dansk-rytterpistol-m-1807/i1560334/|title=Dansk Rytterpistol M. 1807|language=Danish|publisher=lauritz.com|accessdate=20 February 2020}}</ref>
His former property at Ny Vestergade 9 in Copenhagen was listed in the Danish Registry of Protected Buildings and Places in 1932. The relief of two crossed pistols above the gate was installed by him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kulturarv.dk/fbb/sagvis.pub?sag=3100523|title=Ny Vestergade 9|language=Danish|publisher=Kulturstyrelsen|accessdate=20 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hovedstadshistorie.dk/frederiksholm/ny-vestergade/|title=Ny Vestergade|language=Danish|publisher=hovedstadshistorie.dk|accessdate=20 February 2020}}</ref>
==Further reading== * Askgaard, Finn :''[https://bibliotek.dk/da/work/870970-basis%3A01114476 Rustmester Christian Wilcken Kyhl : bøssemager og opfinder]'', Tøjhusmuseet, Copenhagen, 148 pages (1975)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.arma-dania.dk/public/timeline/_AD_pistoler_view.php?editid1=19 Image] * [http://www.helsingorleksikon.dk/index.php/Kronborg_Geværfabrik Kronborg Geværfabrik]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyhl, Christian}} Category:Danish gunsmiths Category:19th-century Danish inventors Category:People from Helsingør Category:1762 births Category:1827 deaths