Uttersberg’s Industrial Heritage

In medieval Sweden, when making iron, the ore was heated in a blast furnace. When the iron melted, it flowed out and solidified in molds, forming pig iron. Since pig iron could not be forged, it was remelted in a hearth. There, the molten iron was stirred with a rod, allowing air to enter and reduce some of the carbon content. With less carbon, the iron became forgeable. This process was called refining the iron. The refined iron was known as osmund iron and was sold in barrels, in fairly small pieces, half-round and split in the middle. Between the 13th and 17th centuries, osmund iron was one of Sweden’s most important export commodities.
 

However, in Europe, people began remelting Swedish osmund iron. They placed it under huge water-powered hammers that hammered the iron into long bars, known as bar iron.
Gustav Vasa, who constantly needed more money to develop the Kingdom of Sweden, realized that it was far more profitable to produce bar iron domestically. It could be sold abroad for twice the price. He invited two German men, who came to Sweden at their own expense and built a hammer mill capable of making bar iron.
Just over ten years later, bar iron production was firmly established in Sweden.
 

One of the blast furnaces modernized with a bar iron hammer in the late 16th century was Uttersberg. At that time, however, Uttersberg was called Flohammar. No one today knows who originally owned the furnace, and it changed owners multiple times. Between 1606 and 1621, “Mistress Elin” owned the estate, which eventually received the name Uttersberg from Johan Utterklo in 1672, who was the true founder of the ironworks.
Johan’s last name was originally Andersson, but he adopted the more distinguished name Utterklo. Thanks to Uttersberg and his other ironworks, Grängshammar, Johan became very wealthy and was even ennobled at the young age of 26.
 

During Johan Utterklo’s time, there was an even larger manor house than today, with a newly landscaped park and a pavilion by the shore.
On the Skinnskatteberg side of the river lay the power and hammer forge with two hearths. Slightly further up on the same shore was a small smithy where the blacksmith made iron tools and other smaller iron objects. He and his family lived in a house on the opposite side of the river.
Out on an islet in the rapids stood a brewhouse, where women came to do laundry. But it was also used for brewing beer and for large-scale baking.
 

When Johan Utterklo died in the late 1600s, followed a few years later by his wife Ingrid, their daughter Maria Utterklo took over as the ironworks owner. After her, her son inherited the ironworks in 1731. He was the last of the Utterklo family to own Uttersberg before selling it to his brother-in-law, Count Fredrik Gyllenborg.
Fredrik Gyllenborg was a busy man—an avid politician and president of the Mining Board—but his business dealings at the ironworks declined. He managed to avoid bankruptcy, but after his death, his estate was forced to auction off Uttersberg.
Hammer forging continued at Uttersberg until 1901, when the focus shifted to cast iron production.
In the 1920s, following a wave of industrial closures, profitability declined, and Uttersberg’s ironworks was shut down.
 

Today, one of Sweden’s finest galleries, Galleri Astley, along with a fantastic sculpture park, is located here. The area itself is a nature reserve featuring an acoustic park—one of the few in the world.
 

FACTS
Dating back to the 16th century. Graphic art, art museum, gallery, workshop, sculpture park, studio, café.
 

Of the former ironworks, the manor house—now privately owned—and worker housing still remain.
 

In 1866, the railway reached Uttersberg and was later extended. Due to a misunderstanding when the first locomotive was ordered, it had a unique track gauge.
The last passenger train ran in 1952, and freight traffic ceased sixteen years later.
 

On the former station grounds, there is now a gallery and a sculpture park. The area is also a protected nature reserve for a rare reason—its acoustic park.
 

Galleri Astley. Open every day year-round, Mon-Fri 10 AM – 6 PM, Sat-Sun 10 AM – 5 PM.
Self-guided visits.