History of Kiruna

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kiruna's story begins with the first Kiruna settlements that formed towards the end of the 19th century, the area previously being inhabited by the native Sami people. Finds show that people have lived on the north calotte since the early Stone Age , when Stockholm and Luleå were still covered by the sea.

The story is well documented with photographs.

The prehistory of Kiruna

17th and 18th centuries

Ore discoveries in Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara had long been made by the Sami, but it was not until 1696 that there were records by the scribe Samuel Olsson Mört of Kengis bruk in the municipality of Pajala . During a trip to investigate copper finds in Sjangeli , he stayed in Jukkasjärvi , where he heard about both ore mountains. He reported the findings to the Bergskollegium , but it was not until 1736 before the two mountains were properly examined. Gabriel Gyllengrip led the appraisal of the huge ore finds. A map of the area was drawn, in which Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara in Friedrichs Berg and Berg Ulrika Eleonora were baptized after the reigning King Fredrik I and his wife Ulrika Eleonora .

Mining the ore, however, was not seriously considered because the area was too remote and the climate too harsh. In addition, according to Swedish law, there was a ban on the export of ore and pig iron , which made ore mining almost worthless. The law was not repealed until 1857.

19th century

Ore was mined from the rock at Luossajärvi as early as the 19th century. The same method was used that had been used for a long time at Gällivares Erzberg: the ore was mined during the summer months and brought to the Kengisverk furnace in Palokorva by reindeer and horses during the winter months . The problem was that Kiirunavaara and Luossavaara were much further away and the transport methods were so ineffective that the mountain could not be mined. In addition, the iron ore contained phosphorus , which made steel production difficult because the Kiruna ore could not be smelted in the furnaces alone. It was forced to mix it with the ore from the mines in central Sweden , which increased the costs enormously.

The beginning of the solution only came in 1878 when Sidney Thomas developed the Thomas process , which made it possible to separate phosphorus from iron ore. This was a revolutionary innovation for steel production and at the same time for the Lappish mining industry. A railway from Luleå to Gällivare had been discussed for a long time, but only now was the starting shot. The English company The Northern of Europe Railway Company offered to construct a railway line from Luleå to the Norwegian coast and was awarded the contract. The railway line was later called Malmbanan .

In 1884 the construction of the railway began from both ends and after four years the temporary railway to Malmberget was ready. The English company's capital was used up at the time. The company went bankrupt and was forced to sell the temporary building cheaply to the Swedish state. When the railway, after extensive renovations, was put back into operation in 1891, the iron ore could be transported from Malmberg to Luleå. The Swedish State Railways were responsible for the transport and the newly founded joint stock company Gellivare Malmfalt mined the ore.

The news of the developments in the Kiruna area made influential people active in the 1880s. The head of the northern road and hydraulic engineering administration ( Väg- och Vattenbyggnadsstyrelsens norra district ), Robert Schough , obtained half of the land around the ore mountains with the help of bribes. It was also Schough who took the initiative to set up the public company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag , or LKAB . He also became the first chairman of the board when the company was founded in Stockholm on December 18, 1890. LKAB's most important task was initially to promote the construction of the railway between Gällivare and the constantly ice-free coast of Norway. This work met with stiff opposition. The export ban law for ore and pig iron had been abolished many years ago, but the resistance against a railway line across the Reich border assumed during the Reichstag debate that the construction would open the border to Russia . The start of construction was decided in 1898 by both the Swedish Reichstag and the Norwegian Storting , but the Minister of State Erik Gustaf Boström was forced to threaten his resignation in order to get the Swedish Reichstag to approve.

At the time, the LKAB was not managed by the company's founder, but by the Gellivare Malmfalt joint stock company, which had taken over the majority of the shares since 1893. The decision of the Reichstag to complete the construction of the Malmbanan was expensive for LKAB. The company was forced to sign a contract according to which, among other things, the LKAB had to pay for the operation of the railway, maintenance and any losses. In addition, a large sum should be made available as security for the company.

The company management initiated preparatory work with the planning of a new municipality in 1897 with the then boss on site, Hjalmar Lundbohm , on behalf of the state. The architect Per Olof Hallman was commissioned together with Gustaf Wickman to draw up plans and guidelines for a city map. This city map should be trend-setting within its genre, since its structure was geographically and climatologically adapted. The city was mainly laid out on the western slope of Mount Haukivaara . At the beginning of 1899, King Oscar II decided to survey the land. LKAB bought 500 hectares for mining operations and 241 hectares for residential areas. In addition, 178 hectares were earmarked for land to be sold to private individuals. The city map should design this area. In return, the mining company's residential area received its own plan from the same client, but it was not promoted to town until 1914.

On October 15, 1899, the Malmbahn had advanced to the town called Luossavare , which at that time had already become a small, uncontrolled informal settlement with just under 250 inhabitants. The first building was erected in 1890 on behalf of one of the LKAB part owners. The simple wooden building was neither waterproof nor fireproof, but it was the first real building on the site that later became Kiruna. It was named B: 1 - building number one (byggnad no.1). The first family in the parish, the Taaveniku family, settled here in 1898.

A few months before the Malmban reached Luossavare, the community's first child was born and later that year it was baptized Kiruna Söderberg.

20th century

Hallman's town plan was completed on April 27, 1900, and at the same time the parish was renamed Kiruna . One of the reasons for this was that Kiruna was a practical and short name that most Swedes could easily pronounce compared to the earlier unofficial names Luossajaure and Luossavare.

By making the city map official, it was possible to regulate where buildings would be erected and to avoid the community becoming a kind of wild settlement like those in Gällivare and Malmberget.

The Malmbanan was completed in 1903, in 1908 Kiruna Kreishauptort in the district of Jukkasjärvi , and in 1912 the church was consecrated.

In May 1940, during the Second World War, the Germans conquered the neutral states of Denmark and Norway (" Enterprise Weser Exercise ") and the port of Narvik . From there they transported the iron ore from Kiruna to the German Empire.

In 1948 the town was elevated to the status of a city, and in 1963 the new town hall was opened. The mine in Luossavaara was closed in 1974 and in 1976 Kiruna reached its highest population ever with 24,375 inhabitants.

21st century

The LKAB announced in 2004 that large parts of the city had to move as a result of undercutting by mining. In 2007 the first plans of the new city were published.

literature

  • Kjell Törmä (Ed.): Kiruna, 100-årsboken. Kiruna kommun, Kiruna 2000, ISBN 91-630-9371-5 .