Workday Wednesday - Swedish Iron Industry: Bergsmen

Definition

A Bergsman (I have note been able to find the English word for this) was originally a free farmer who along side farming produced pig iron in a smeltery and also mined for iron ore. These bergsmen worked together in so called Bergslag, meaning they each owned shares in the mines and smelteries, and did not have to pay taxes in return for there services in the iron industry. They did however pay taxes on the pig iron they produced, a tenth of the production. Depending on the value of the farm the farmer owned he could be a whole, a half or a quarter bergsman.

[edit]History

The custom of having bergsmen mining for ore on their property started during the middle ages and ended in 1859 when the handeling of ore became free in Sweden. The mining was regulated by law and the letter of privilages showed which rights and obligations the crown gave the people who extracted ore on their property. The value of the farm came to deside how many shares a Bergsman had in the smeltery.

The Bergregal stated that the crown had the rights to all land with ore. This ment that the Bergsman did not really own the land he was farming, but he owned the rights to farm it and also the buildings.

The rules and conditions could vary a lot from bergslag to bergslag but the general rule was that you payed a tenth of what you produced and you did not have to pay other taxes.

Some bergslag continued working together as usual even after their obligations had been taken away in 1859.

[edit]Daily Life

During the summer the bergsmen and their families extracted ore from bogs, lakes and red earth. From 1600 and onwards under ground mining took over. In the fall they took care of the harvesting and threshing before it was time to start working with the charcoal kilns. The winters were used for taking down trees and transport goods and materials. The snow made the job easier. To produce pig iron the smelteries needed the spring rivers. The bars were marked with the personal stamp of the bergsman and the number of the smeltery. Spring was also the time for sowing.

The pig iron was sold to the ironworks at markets during the year. There they could also sell hammered iron ware that they had produced on their own.

[edit]Inheritance

The farm of a Bergsman could, according to the letter of privilages, be inherited by the children of a Bergsman and therefor they often took over the farm and became Bergsmen themselves.

Sources:
Wikipedia on Bergsman
Wikipedia on Bergslag
Wikipedia on Bergsprivilegium

Picture:
Nordiska Museumet through Digitalt Museum
 Bergsmän, Falu koppargruva. Teckning av Hans Ranié, 1680-tal
License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 SE

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Stavsjö in the county of Södermanland

My mother's cousin passed away in cancer so I want to write about something that is connected to him. I am going to write about the village where he, his father, and my grandfather grew up in.

The village of Stavsjö, situated between Norrköping and Nyköping south of Stockholm, mainly exists because of the ironworks that started its production in 1662. The ironworks was placed by the lake Stavsjön because of the natural resources of the area. In 1666 the production of canons started and became the main product for 200 years. Today the factory is still running and produces knife gate valves.

Stavsjö bruksmuseum - model of the village around 1900

The Russians attacked and burned down almost all of the village in the early 18th century but the ironworks was soon rebuilt. My great grandfather used to work at the ironworks and it was where my grandfather had his first job as a young teenager.

During the years 1898-1902 3000 arcres of forest was damaged by the black arches butterfly and a railroad was built to transport timber from the Kolmården woods down to the bay in the Baltic sea. The railroad-trasportation ended in 1939 when cars had become more common. Today you can walk or go by bike where the rails once were.

Kolmården station down by the bay.

Stavsjö station

The old canteen, that had also worked as an inn, of the ironworks was moved at the end of the 19th century and served as living quarters for the workers as well as housing a store on the bottom floor.

The old original part of the inn.

In 1947 the building once again became an inn under the current owner, counseler Julius Lindström. The mian road to Stockholm passed right outside the inn and it became a popular place for travellers to stop and have a bite to eat at. Traffic became heavier and heavier and the highway was moved a kilometer and the inn started to have troubles. It has stood empty for many years but in February renovations were being made in order to turn the inn into a place to house newly arrived immigrants who are waiting to know if they can stay or have to leave.

The restaurant

The conference and hotell section that was added in the early 1980's.

My grandfather's brother used to run the local gas station, right next to the inn, and my mom's cousin took over. When the highway moved so did the gas station and is one of Sweden's most visited gas stations.


Pictures:
Stavsjö bruksmuseum by Masugn  under license CC BY-SA 3.0
Kolmården station, Stavsjö station and the inn by Your Swedish Herigage

Sources:
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stavsj%C3%B6
http://www.stafsjo.com/index.php?id=233
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Stavsj%C3%B6_V%C3%A4rdshus

Your Swedish Heritage http://linnlinns.wix.com/swedish-heritage Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourswedishheritage Instagram: http://instagram.com/yourswedishheritage Twitter: https://twitter.com/swedheritage Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/107062009006289990073/posts Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/urswedishherita/ Blog: http://yourswedishheritage.blogspot.se/