Valåsen Ironworks () is an

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloome ...

in Valåsen, a village in

Karlskoga Municipality Karlskoga Municipality () is a municipality in Örebro County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Karlskoga. Other localities include Valåsen och Labbsand, Kortfors, Linnebäck and Villingsberg. Karlskoga was formed as rur ...

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 ...

. Valåsen is older than the nearby

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Locate ...

History

The estate was taken over by Sven Björnsson. In 1631, Björnsson sold the estate to the mayor Arvid Bengtsson in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. Arvid established the first

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

for the Karlskoga here in 1632. In the late 1630s, Arvid Bengtsson sold Valåsen to Gerhard Ysing, a merchant in Örebro. In 1648, Ysing was granted permission to build a new forge at Övre Valåsen. After Gert Ysing, his son Johan Ysing took over the operation in 1673. In 1712, Johan was granted permission to establish a waterworks. In the 17th century, Hans Lang () served as the chief hammersmith at the Valåsen Ironworks. From 1779 onward, the ironworks belonged to the von Hofsten family. For a period of time, Swedish reformer

Anna Whitlock Anna Whitlock (13June 185216June 1930) was a Swedish reform pedagogue, journalist, suffragette and feminist. She was co-founder and twice chairperson of the National Association for Women's Suffrage. She was also the co-founder of the women's ...

served as a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

there.

History

See also

References

Further reading