{{Short description|Norwegian royal hostess}} '''Else Werring''', née Wilhelmsen (29 April 1905 – 23 November 1989) was a Norwegian royal hostess. thumb|Munkebakken on Fornebu in Bærum
==Personal life== She was born in Tønsberg<ref name=hvem>{{cite encyclopedia|year=1973|title=Werring, Else|encyclopedia=Hvem er hvem?|editor=Steenstrup, Bjørn|publisher=Aschehoug|location=Oslo|url=https://runeberg.org/hvemerhvem/1973/0586.html|page=586|language=no|access-date=14 December 2011}}</ref> as a daughter of shipowner Halfdan Wilhelmsen (1864–1923) and Ragnhild Oppen (1869–1952).<ref name=nbl>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Niels Werring|encyclopedia=Norsk biografisk leksikon|first=Bård|last=Kolltveit|editor=Helle, Knut|editor-link=Knut Helle|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Niels_Werring/utdypning|language=no|access-date=7 March 2009}}</ref> She was a granddaughter of the founder of Wilh. Wilhelmsen Wilhelm Wilhelmsen (1839–1910), an aunt of Tom Wilhelmsen and a niece of businessmen Finn, Axel and Wilhelm Wilhelmsen.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2007|title=Wilhelmsen|encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon|editor=Henriksen, Petter|publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget|location=Oslo|url=http://www.snl.no/Wilhelmsen|language=no|access-date=22 June 2009}}</ref>
She had middle school, and also attended school for two years in England and one year in France. In March 1926 she married shipowner Niels Werring.<ref name=nbl/> The couple had four children; the daughters Ragnhild (who married Henning Astrup) and Gina "Else Catharine" and the sons Niels, Jr. and Morten.<ref name=new>{{cite news|title=Fru Else Werring utnevnt til overhoffmesterinne|date=29 April 1985|work=Aftenposten|page=10|language=no}}</ref> The Werring couple lived at the Munkebakken estate in Lysaker is a residence designed by Arnstein Arneberg. The family led a social life which included royals.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://snl.no/Wilhelmsen|title= Wilhelmsen|publisher = Store norske leksikon |author= Jon Gunnar Arntzen|access-date= July 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nsw.no/portfolio-item/munkebakken-baerum/ |title= Munkebakken, Bærum |publisher= Narud Stokke Wiig Architects |access-date= July 1, 2017 |archive-date= August 1, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170801072809/http://www.nsw.no/portfolio-item/munkebakken-baerum/ |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://wikimapia.org/14806169/Munkebakken |title= Munkebakken |publisher =wikimapia.org |access-date= July 1, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nkl.snl.no/Arnstein_Rynning_Arneberg |title= Arnstein Rynning Arneberg|publisher = Norsk kunstnerleksikon |author= Jens Christian Eldal|date= 20 February 2017|access-date= July 1, 2017}}</ref>
==Career== In January 1958 she was appointed by Olav V of Norway as Chief Court Mistress (''Overhoffmesterinne'') for the Norwegian royal family. When assuming the position, royal-friendly newspaper described her as "representative, highly cultivated, as beautiful as her predecessor in the office, mrs. Borghild Anker, and as eminent a hostess as her".<ref name=new/> Her main assignment was to assist the Crown Princess in her tasks as a hostess at the court.<ref name=portrait>{{cite news|title=Notre Dame med blink i øyet|date=12 April 1975|author=Bistrup, Rie|work=Aftenposten|page=22|language=no}}</ref> As such she played an important role in the social life at the Royal Palace. In 1958 the entire court of the Norwegian royal family comprised as little as seven people; Richard Andvord, Ingvald Smith-Kielland, Odd Grønvold and Ellinor Grønvold, Ingeborg von Hanno and Vincent Bommen.<ref>{{cite news|title=VG presenterer Det norske hoff – ett av verdens mest beskjedne|date=27 September 1958|work=Verdens Gang|page=4|language=no}}</ref> In 1985 she retired and was replaced by Ingegjerd Løvenskiold.<ref>{{cite news|title=Til topps i Kong Olavs hoff|date=20 April 1985|author=Bistrup, Rie|work=Aftenposten|page=25|language=no}}</ref>
She was also a council member in the Nansen Academy from 1948 to 1962 and in the Filharmonisk Selskap from 1952 to 1960. She was a board member of several philanthropic institutions in Tønsberg.<ref name=hvem/> As a godmother in the baptising of ships belonging to her family's shipping company Wilh. Wilhelmsen, she donated "godmother gifts" to nonprofit organizations.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wilhelmsens hittil største|date=11 February 1974|author=Gilbo, Ole S.|work=Aftenposten|page=13|language=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Stor gave til Sjømannsmisjonen|date=13 February 1974|work=Aftenposten|page=11|language=no}}</ref> She was an active churchgoer, and was fond of art collecting, literature, skiing, tennis and horseriding.<ref name=portrait/>
She was decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1967,<ref name=hvem/> and upgraded to Commander with Star in 1980.<ref>{{cite book|last=Torgersen|first=Rolf Normann|author-link=Rolf Normann Torgersen|title=Ordener|year=1987|publisher=Nye Atheneum|location=Oslo|language=no|isbn=82-7334-148-8|page=189}}</ref> She also held the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog and the Order of the Polar Star.<ref name=70y>{{cite news|title=Overhoffmesterinne Else Werring 70 år|date=29 April 1985|work=Aftenposten|page=10|language=no}}</ref> She died in November 1989.<ref name=nbl/><ref>{{cite news|title=Else Werring (obituary)|date=29 November 1989|author=Smith-Kielland, I.|author-link=Ingvald M. Smith-Kielland|work=Aftenposten|page=15|language=no}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-court}} {{succession box | title = ''Overhoffmesterinne'' | before = Borghild Anker | after = Ingegjerd Løvenskiold Stuart | years = 1958–1985}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werring, Else}} Category:1905 births Category:1989 deaths Category:People from Tønsberg Municipality Category:People from Bærum Category:Norwegian expatriates in England Category:Norwegian expatriates in France Category:Norwegian women philanthropists Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Category:Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Category:Norwegian Lutherans Category:Mistresses of the Robes (Norway) Category:20th-century Norwegian philanthropists Category:20th-century Lutherans Category:20th-century ladies-in-waiting Category:20th-century women philanthropists