Blue paintwork Modum
The Blue Color Works Modum (Norwegian: Modums Blaafarveværk or short Blaafarveværket ) was in 1773 in Modum , Province Viken , Norway , built as a royal factory and manufacturing and was the first major chemical plant in Scandinavia . The factory premises are now an open-air museum and art gallery and represent one of Norway's most important cultural monuments.
history
In 1772 the prospector Ole Vidtloch discovered deposits of bright cobalt in the area around Modum . King Christian VII took possession of the site and mining began soon after. By a royal resolution on April 1, 1776, the establishment of a blue paint factory for ore processing was determined. Although the plant was granted the monopoly (Privilegium exclusivum) for the sole production of Smalteblau in Denmark and Norway, production started slowly. In 1783, the royal plant hired Georg Christian Bernstein as director to improve the situation. Bernstein had previously worked at the Carlshafen blue paint plant in Hesse .
The production of the Modum factory in 1791 amounted to 2,281 quintals of blue paint, a year later 2,817 quintals were produced. The products were exported worldwide, including China and Japan as early as 1788 . As a result of the Wars of Liberation , production fell to 566 quintals in 1814, but was gradually increased again to 2,200 quintals by 1819. In 1820 the plant employed 34 workers, 25 men worked in the associated pits. In 1822, close to the existing plant in Snarum another Blue Color Works Snarum built. In order to further increase the production of the Modum plant, the conversion into a stock corporation took place in 1823 . The Berlin banker Wilhelm Christian Benecke and the industrialist Benjamin Wegner from East Prussia took over the plant. With the inflow of new capital, production could again be increased significantly in the following years. The plant experienced its heyday under Wegner, the new director. At times it was the largest industrial company in Norway. In 1827 around 500 workers worked in the pits and stamping works of the plant alone. In 1840 there were already approx. 1,200 men, including approx. 100 workers alone with the processing of approx. 30,000 tons of ore in 8 stamping works with 78 stamps. Production in 1838/39 amounted to 3,451 quintals of various blue colors. Modum had developed into the most important industrial location in Norway. Wegner not only increased sales, but also introduced comprehensive socio-political reforms to the benefit of the workers, so that he is considered the ancestor of the Norwegian welfare state .
In 1848 the factory went bankrupt and a year later the English company "Goodhall & Reeves" bought the factory. In 1855 the plant became the property of the Saxon blue color and nickel smelter Niederpfannenstiel . In 1857 the blue color production is stopped. In the 1930s, parts of the extensive complex were demolished and restoration work began on the remaining buildings. At the end of the 1960s, the area was to be used industrially again, but after protests, the expansion plans were not implemented. In the following years, the gradual restoration of the facilities and their touristic valorization began.
Todays use
The work represents one of the most important cultural monuments in Norway and has been used as an open-air museum since 1993. Today it is both a tourist attraction and an art gallery. The life of the workers is shown in the social history museum, and the interior and art can be seen in the Nyfossum manor. The cobalt mines can also be visited. A museum is dedicated to the painter Theodor Kittelsen (1857–1914). The area is also called Kunstnerdalen (Künstlertal) as it has attracted many romantic artists. The area served as a motif for many Norwegian and foreign artists, including a. for Theodor Kittelsen and his illustrations of Norwegian fairy tales . Krøderbanen is also one of the attractions in the Artists' Valley.
literature
- Karl Friedrich Böbert: About the Modum blue color factory in Norway. in: Archives for Mineralogy, Geognosy, Mining and Metallurgy. Volume 21. Berlin 1847. pp. 207–292 digitized version (pdf, 22.2 MB)
- Tone Sinding Steinsvik: The cobalt mines and the royal blue from Norway - part of the big world , Modum / Norway, 2000, ISBN 82-90734-23-9
Web links
- Blaafarveværket - Forside - The Blue Ink Factory (Norwegian, English)
Coordinates: 59 ° 54 ′ 46 ″ N , 9 ° 53 ′ 15 ″ E