Surahammar Municipality (''Surahammars kommun'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

Västmanland County Västmanland County ( sv, Västmanlands län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden. It borders the counties of Södermanland, Örebro, Gävleborg, Dalarna and Uppsala. The county also has a stretch of shoreline towards Mälaren (Sweden's ...

in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of

Surahammar Surahammar ( or ) is a locality and the seat of Surahammar Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden with 6,179 inhabitants in 2010. References Municipal seats of Västmanland County Swedish municipal seats Populated places in ...

. The municipality is located some 100 km west of Stockholm in the southern part of the mineral-rich

Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since ...

region. The municipality was formed in 1963 through the amalgamation of ''Ramnäs'' and ''Sura''.

Localities

Ramnäs Ramnäs () is a locality situated in Surahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingd ...

(seat) *

Virsbo Virsbo () is a locality situated in Surahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdo ...

History

Steelmaking Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and allo ...

in this municipality was started on a larger scale in the 16th and 17th centuries when forges were built there. It was a new phenomenon to run forge mills separate from mining and

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with sil ...

production sites in

. The mills were located in Virsbo, Ramnäs and Surahammar and pig iron was transported from mills further north, initially by horse-sledges in the winter. There was ample local supply of

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

to run the forge hammers and timber to make charcoal. Later, when

Strömsholm Canal The Strömsholm Canal ( sv, Strömsholms kanal) runs from Smedjebacken to Lake Mälaren near Strömsholm Strömsholm () is a locality situated, in the vicinity of Herrskogen, in Hallstahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden with 664 inh ...

was finished, it was used to ship finished products to

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

and Stockholm for export. This

restructuring Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...

process appears to have been driven by the need to secure access to hydropower and timber for the forges since both the mines and blast furnaces used up considerable amounts of resources in the production of pig iron. Over time, the mills specialised and in Ramnäs the key product became iron chains – in modern days for the off-shore industry – and in Surahammar wheel-sets for the rail road industry and electro steels, both with

ASEA ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' ( English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company. History ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås as ...

as a major customer. In Surahammar, Gustaf Eriksson developed the first combustion-engine automobile built in Sweden in 1897. It formed the basis for a new Swedish industry that was located in

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in ...

under the name of Vagnfabriks-Aktiebolaget i Södertelge (renamed in 1906 to

Vabis Vabis was the abbreviation and later also trademark of Swedish railway car manufacturer Vagnfabriks Aktiebolaget i Södertälje, which translates ''Wagon Factory Limited Company of Södertälje'', established in 1891 in Södertälje. Vabis also ma ...

that later merged with

Scania AB Scania AB is a major Sweden, Swedish manufacturer headquartered in Södertälje, focusing on commercial vehicles—specifically heavy lorries, trucks and buses. It also manufactures diesel engines for heavy vehicles as well as Marine propulsion ...

). Today, the mills in Virsbo, Ramnäs and Surahammar have been transformed into modern industries with international owners.

Economy

Industry in Surahammar includes: * Surahammars Bruk AB - electrical steels * Adtranz Wheelset AB - wheelsets for the railroad industry * Metso Powdermet * Scana Ramnäs AB * Uponor Wirsbo AB * Ruukki Sverige AB, Virsbo

Tourism

The

has been restored and is a popular route for small yachts. One can navigate from

Strömsholm Palace Strömsholm Palace, sometimes called Strömsholm Castle ( sv, Strömsholms slott), is a Swedish royal palace. The baroque palace is built on the site of a fortress from the 1550s, located on an island in the Kolbäcksån river at the west end of ...

, one of the

Royal Palaces in Sweden The Royal palaces in the Kingdom of Sweden are the following: *The Royal Palace in Stockholm *Drottningholm Palace *Chinese Pavilion at Drottningholm *Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred * Gustav III's Pavilion *Haga Palace *Rosendal Palace *Rosersberg P ...

at lake Mälaren to

Fagersta Fagersta is a locality and the seat of Fagersta Municipality in Västmanland County, Sweden, with 11,130 inhabitants in 2010. Geography The city is located at the junction of two railways between Ludvika-Västerås and Avesta (Krylbo)-Öreb ...

and Smedjebacken through several canal locks and lakes, a total distance of 100 km. Ecomuseum Bergslagen gives an in-depth view of how the early industrialization evolved in the Bergslagen region. It consists of some 40 sites.

Riksdag elections

References

External links

Surahammar Municipality
- Official site
Strömsholm Canal
- Official site

- Official site

- Official site {{authority control Municipalities of Västmanland County