Engelsbergs Bruk

Useful Information

Location:	Snytenvägen 5, 737 90 Ängelsberg. (59.9675990, 16.0096981)
Open:	MAY to SEP daily 11:30, 14. [2024]
Fee:	Adults SEK 100, Children (0-12) free. Groups (10+): Adults SEK 80. [2024]
Classification:
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Engelsbergs Bruk, Snytenvägen 5, 737 90 Ängelsberg. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

11th and 12th century	first iron mining in the area.
1681	Engelsbergs bruk built by Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (*1645-✝1706).
1974	declared a building monument.
1993	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Geology

Description

Engelsbergs Bruk (Engelsberg Ironworks, literally Engelsbergs mill) is located in the village of Ängelsberg in Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland. The furnace was built by Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (*1645-✝1706), the county sheriff, in 1681. During the 18th and 19th century it became one of the world's most modern ironworks. As it is very well-preserved, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.

The iron mining in the region dates back to at least the 13th century. The oldest still existing building at Engelsberg was built no later than the first half of the 14th century, which was then named Englikebenning. In the beginning, local peasants both mined the ore and produced the iron using primitive furnaces. More modern production methods were introduced in the end of the 16th century. The amount and quality of the produced iron increased substantially. The iron was used for nails, tools and implements, horseshoes, and for cannons. Sweden became one of the world's leading exporters of iron in the 17th century. This was partly a result of the immigration of Walloons and Germans who brought the technical knowledge to refine the raw iron into high-quality and malleable iron. The site was connected to means of transportation, which was quite important. There was Strömsholm's canal and from the middle of the 19th century one of Sweden's first railways.

In 1916, Engelsberg's Ironworks was acquired by General Consul Axel Ax:son Johnson (*1876–✝1958). His company Avesta Jernverks AB invested in a new Lancashire forge and rolling mill erected in 1917–1919. But the plant was shut down as early as 1925, when the situation on the iron market was strained. It was reopened in 1942, as a smaller pressing plant for stainless sheet metal articles, as a result of World War II. The raw material was scrap metal from Avesta. In 1948, after the war, a new extensive investment was made and the plant was rebuilt into a mechanical workshop for the production of valves and pipe parts. This was called the Ventilfabriken (Valve Factory) and became quite successful with up to 40 employees. This factory was finally closed in 2012.

The central part of the site is the casting house with the blast furnace. It has an air duct for preheated combustion air and a rope railway for charcoal. Nearby is the forge, where the cast iron was forged. There are barns, an office building, the inspector's house, and other buildings, and a mansion or manor house nearby. The buildings are either renovated and form an open air museum, or they are used for other purposes. Quite unique is that the Historic Monument is owned and protected by a private company.

Axel Ax:son Johnson and his wife Margaret Ax:son Johnson were interested to preserve the working environment in Engelsberg as a cultural heritage from the beginning. They refurbished the dilapidated furnace, including the forge, the cabin and the manor house with wings and park. They also created a nature park for the European bison, the bison would probably have become completely extinct otherwise. After the death of the General Consul in 1958, the third, fourth and fifth generations of the Ax:son Johnson family have continued the care of Engelsberg. In the 1960s the Johnson Group's central archive was moved tp Engelsberg. In the 1970s extensive restoration work was made in consultation with the National Antiquities Office. In 1987, Nordstjernan AB became the manager of the site, which is a part of the Axel Johnson Group. In 2011, they reacquired the valve factory, closed it and converted the rustic brick building into a conference and seminar facility. The site is leased for scientific conference activities, seminars and research.

The furnace is linked to Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, who was a Swedish hero of freedom and chief justice. He was probably born in the Norberg mountain range, but when he was growing up he regularly lived with his uncle in Englikobyggning or Englikobenning, as the town was called at the time. Engelbrekt had German roots, like many miners in the mining regions of Dalarna, his family had immigrated to Sweden from Germany and had lived there since around 1360. The mining region suffered massively from King Erik XIII's war against Holstein and the Hanseatic League, as it interrupted the export of mineral resources and led to rising taxes. In the spring of 1434, Engelbrekt took the lead in an uprising, which is today called Engelbrekt Uprising. It quickly spread throughout Sweden and received support from the clergy and nobility. In 1435, he controlled almost all of Sweden and was elected governor. But he was murdered on 04-MAY-1436 at Göksholm Castle by a group of Swedish knights, and the uprising ended. But his grave in Örebro became a sort of pilgrimage destination, and his story was the topic of numerous literary works.