Skinnskatteberg Manor Environment

On his explorations around Bergslagen, Wilhelm Hisinger (1766–1852) discovered a mineral from Bastnäs near Riddarhyttan. When he tried to analyze what kind of mineral it was, he failed. When he showed the mineral to his friend, chemist and naturalist Jacob Berzelius, and described the difficulties in analyzing it, they decided to work together to determine what kind of stone he had found.
 
Skinnskatteberg has been inhabited since the 1300s. The area had abundant resources of both ore and forests, and soon, mining entrepreneurs built several blast furnaces along the Hedströmmen river. These furnaces were consolidated in the early 1600s into Skinnskatteberg Works, one of the youngest ironworks in the region.
 
In 1771, industrialist Vilhelm Hising purchased Skinnskatteberg Works after the previous owner’s estate went bankrupt due to a deflation crisis when the “Caps”—one of the political parties of the time, representing the lower classes—took power.
Vilhelm Hising wanted a beautiful manor on his estate. However, it took him several decades to complete the manor house, and by the time it was finished, it had been influenced by multiple artistic and architectural styles.
 
It was only when Vilhelm Hising’s son, also named Wilhelm (who later changed his last name to Hisinger), took over the ironworks business after his father’s death in 1780 that the manor was completed and furnished.
Wilhelm Hisinger initially planned to work within the Board of Mines, but after some reflection, he decided to move to his newly inherited Skinnskatteberg estate. His father had started reorganizing the ironworks, and he wanted to oversee the iron production.
However, time and again, his great interest in mineralogy and geology took precedence. He became a prominent geologist and natural scientist, shaped by the spirit of the time, which held that mineralogy and nature existed primarily for human benefit.
For this reason, he built a laboratory in the English-style park he had designed around the white manor house. There, he spent much of his days conducting investigations, tirelessly researching minerals he discovered.
 
On his explorations around Bergslagen, he found a mineral in Bastnäs near Riddarhyttan. But it was a strange mineral, he thought. No matter how much he pondered, he could not determine what kind it was.
In the spring of 1803, his good friend of many years, Jöns Jacob Berzelius, visited him. They had collaborated for a long time, and now Wilhelm Hisinger showed him the mineral and asked for his opinion.
Even Berzelius was puzzled by the stone that Hisinger had shown him but agreed that they could figure out together what kind of mineral it was.
They set to work, sometimes separately and sometimes together, and eventually, they solved the mystery. Hisinger had discovered a previously unknown element. They named the mineral cerite and the metal cerium, after a newly discovered asteroid named Ceres—a discovery that had attracted great attention among mineralogists worldwide.
Cerium is used, for example, in self-cleaning ovens and in color television tubes. If you want to know more about this, scroll down to the Bastnäs mining field.
 
FACTS
Beautiful surroundings in central Skinnskatteberg, located near the church. Large park and local heritage museum in the worker’s housing on the other side of the stream.
Until the turn of the 18th–19th century, Skinnskatteberg Works primarily focused on iron production.
The industrial area, including forges and worker housing, was located behind the manor buildings. Water flowed between the Upper and Lower Vättern lakes, supplying the works with hydropower.
There was a stark contrast between how the industrialists and the workers lived. The manors in Bergslagen are often grand, some resembling castles. The estate owners, for example, had their own outhouses (or “privies,” as they were sometimes called), which the servants were not allowed to use. Well into the 1900s, ordinary people often had to relieve themselves wherever they could when needed.
In the 20th century, Skinnskatteberg became a central hub for the forestry industry, and in 1944, the Forest Master School moved into the manor.
Visits are self-guided.