The Cultural Reserve in Skräppbo
Deep in the forest near a small lake in Skinnskatteberg Municipality lies an old red-painted cottage, a former school—INSIDE a modern creation of metal, steel, and glass. This is part of the Skräppbo Cultural Reserve.
In 1999, Sweden introduced the possibility of establishing cultural reserves. These areas preserve natural and cultural environments deemed important for future generations. Near Riddarhyttan, along the beautiful valley of the Haraldsjö Stream and extending into Lake Lien, lies a cultural reserve named Skräppbo, after a nearby farm.
In the Skräppbo Cultural Reserve, iron production has taken place since the 1400s. The area is full of historical traces of human activity, including crofts, furnaces, mine shafts, and charcoal kilns. There are also signs of natural changes over thousands of years, such as 10,000-year-old remnants of the ice age, including kettle holes and eskers with delta plateaus offering scenic views of the landscape.
Lake Haraldsjön is a spring-fed lake and the deepest in Västmanland, with a depth of 53 meters. Its steep shores and the surrounding ancient pine forest make for excellent hiking experiences.
The cultural reserve is also a vibrant cultural hub where the group Teatermaskinen is based. The theater group produces plays, music, art exhibitions, and festivals in their unique venue, but they also tour extensively.
Skräppbo School was built in 1910 for children living in nearby forest crofts. The schoolhouse also accommodated the teacher and later a caretaker. One of the teachers was Maja Bark, whose daughter, Maj-Britt Nergård, has been instrumental in preserving the history of Riddarhyttan for Teatermaskinen.
The school closed in the mid-1930s and was used as a community space during the 1950s and 60s by groups like Unga Örnar and SSU. Later, it became a vacation home until 1995. Ten years later, Teatermaskinen took over the school for their theater activities.
As the theater’s operations grew, they needed a larger space but wanted to keep the beloved schoolhouse. This led to the idea of building a structure around the schoolhouse. Today, Skräppbo School is enclosed within Teatermaskinen’s modern theater building, Maskinteater, which also houses a theater hall.
Thanks to Skräppbo’s designation as a cultural reserve, both the natural environment and cultural heritage are protected. However, recent funding cuts for cultural initiatives in Sweden have put pressure on Maskinteatern, and the theater group is now exploring creative solutions to maintain their space.
Facts
Cultural reserve featuring an old public school and a unique cultural center where a building was constructed around the historical schoolhouse, which now includes a theater hall.
The cultural reserve also contains fascinating remnants of settlements, furnaces, and charcoal kilns, as well as 10,000-year-old traces of glaciers and the ice age.
Teatermaskinen manages the cultural center and oversees the cultural reserve.
