Österbybruk is a
locality situated in
Östhammar Municipality
Östhammar Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city status in Sweden, city of Östhammar.
The present municipality was created during the local governmen ...
,
Uppsala County,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
with 2,272 inhabitants in 2010.
Ironworks
The Österby works was one of a number mostly in
Roslagen, where there were
Walloon forge
A Walloon forge (or Walloon process) is a type of finery forge that decarburization, decarbonizes pig iron into wrought iron.
The process was conceived in the Liège region, and from there extended to France, then England around the end of the ...
s, producing high quality
oregrounds iron for export. Österby's brand mark was OO. All iron was branded with that mark. The Österby ironproducts were highly valued in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
for the production of
blister steel by the
cementation process
The cementation process is an Obsolescence, obsolete technology for making steel by carburization of iron. Unlike modern steelmaking, it increased the amount of carbon in the iron. It was apparently developed before the 17th century. Derwentcot ...
.
The historical complex of Österbybruk is a "Vallonbruk", a social and economic building complex surrounding a forge. Österbybruk is one of the most beautiful examples of the remains of the presence and input of Walloon immigrants ('valloner') in Sweden in the 17th century. More than 1.200 families emigrated in that era to Sweden, where the expertise of Walloon master blacksmiths was highly sought after. They helped to launch the Swedish iron and metal industry. The number of their descendants is estimated today between 500.000 and 1 million people.
People
*
Karl Kilbom, the leader of the
Swedish Communist Party 1924-1929 was born here, and one of the main streets of Österbybruk is named after him today.
Climate
Österbybruk has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
that is quite mild throughout the year, especially considering its northerly latitude.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterbybruk
Populated places in Uppsala County
Populated places in Östhammar Municipality
Ironworks in Sweden