Altenburg was born at
Lille Ulefos, in
Telemark, Norway. He was the son of sawmill manager
Diderik Altenburg (1719–1766) and
Marichen Johansdatter Barth (1737–1769). His parents died early. After the death of his father, his mother was married in 1767 to Engebreth Christopher Blom Bertelsen Bomhoff (1737–1800). After his mother's subsequent death, he and his siblings lived with their stepfather. Johan Altenburg was originally a
ship's captain, but stopped sailing at a relatively young age. Altenburg ran a lumber trade, owned several ships, a farm and a large
brewery in the community of
Bratsberg. He owned Altenburggården, a large manor in the center of Skien, where he lived with his family, and also owned one of Århusgårdene outside Skien, which the family used as a country house. He married
Hedevig Christine Paus (1763–1848), a sister of shipowner
Ole Paus and
Martha Paus (married
Blom). His sister,
Kristine Cathrine Ploug, lived with him and his family following the death of her husband in 1799. He was the father of
Marichen Altenburg (1799–1869) and thus the maternal grandfather of playwright
Henrik Ibsen. Following his death and his daughter's marriage to
Knud Ibsen in 1825, his considerable fortune passed to his
son-in-law, who however went almost
bankrupt due to failed speculations in the mid-1830s. Almost the entire family fortune was lost by 1835. The
Ibsen family had lived at the stately Altenburggården manor in central Skien, until Knud Ibsen's bankruptcy force them to move. Altenburggården manor burned to the ground in the 1886 citywide fire which also reduced much of Skien to ruins after which the center of town was rebuilt. ==References==