Also the North Frisian mainland produced authors in Frisian language such as Johannes Hansen from the Bredstedt area or Moritz Momme Nissen from Enge.
Knudtzon was born in Bredstedt, North Frisia (now part of the Schleswig-Holstein state in Germany), the son of Nicolai Knudtzen (1698–1785), merchant, and his wife, Magdalena (1726–1803), née Clausen.
His father was born in Bredstedt, North Frisia (now part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein) and had established himself as a leading businessman in Trondheim.
In 1976 he passed the Second State Examination (Zweites Staatsexamen) to become a teacher, following which he was employed as a teacher of agriculture at the Bredstedt Agricultural School and also as an economics adviser in the Agricultural Ministry of Schleswig-Holstein until 1983.