Hassel ironworks
The Hassel ironworks , Hassel jernverk was a historic ironworks in Modum .
The beginning
On February 3, 1649, King Friedrich III. the privilege to build this ironworks. At that time there was an increased need for iron because of many wars. Four powerful men started the company: the rentmaster Peter Vibe in Copenhagen, the mayor of Christiania Hans Eggertsen Stockfleth, the clerk of Akershus Johan Garmann and the bailiff in Gudbrandsdalen Christian Mogenssøn. But none of them were involved in the actual construction. This was left to the French mountain master Francois Coudrioux, who also headed the business in the first few years.
Later the owners changed frequently. When the factory belonged to the wealthy wholesaler Daniel Knoph, business went bad, and he sold the factory to Johan Halvorsen Groll, who had previously managed other ironworks, in the 17th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, members of the Richelieu family owned most of the property. They lived near Hokksund on the Sem estate. In 1721, Assessor Justus Heinrich Weichart and Bishop Bartholomæus Deichman von Christiania (1713–1730) took over the work. They also had ownership interests in the Kongsberg silver mine .
The tunnels were on a ridge near the Hassel farm in Modum. This is where the plant got its name. The ironworks itself was at the Daler estate in Eiker , a few kilometers south of the pits. The big raft ovens stood there . The location was chosen because of the river Bingselva, so that the large bellows could be driven with water wheels. Next to it were the warehouses for the iron factory and the accommodation of the director of the iron and steel works.
There were also a few sawmills on the river nearby. The people who worked there and in the ironworks lived in the village of Skotselv.
In 1651 the owners bought an old ironworks belonging to the king in Vestfossen in Øvre Eiker and built a hammer mill there. Later they had a hammer mill on Bingselv near the Torrud manors in Modum and Hære in Eiker. Two nail hammers were built.
The smelting process
The ore was first roasted so that it became brittle and porous and the sulfur escaped. Then it was alternately layered with charcoal and heated to 1,500 ° C with the help of the water-driven bellows so that the liquid iron ran out. The carbon in the charcoal was part of the iron, and the quality of the iron varied depending on the amount of carbon. Two types of iron were produced: Hard, bar-shaped iron with low carbon content, which was sold to blacksmiths in the area for horseshoes and implements. Nails were also made from it. The other type of iron with more carbon was more brittle, i.e. cast iron , and was used for cannons and cannonballs, and later also for pots, pans and waffle irons. The Hassel ironworks became best known for its cast iron stove plates . Many of these stove plates with all kinds of mythical motifs can be found in museums in Norway and Denmark.
The resources
The works did not only have pits in the mountains near Hassel. They also got pits in Holtefjell, at Glomsrud, Sveås, Skredsvik in Modum, in Dramdal and Såsen in Øvre Eiker and at Solberg and Åserud in Nedre Eiker. From around 1720, the plant also began to collect ore from the Barbo mines near Arendal. This was a special iron that all Norwegian smelters needed for good quality iron.
The Hassel ironworks had constant conflicts over logging. Because there were a number of other factories in the area that also needed wood for their operations: In addition to the sawmills already mentioned, the silver works in Kongsberg, the glass factory in Nøstetangen ( Hokksund ) and the paint factory in Modum had a high demand for charcoal and Logging rights in Eiker. Another problem was that the Bingselva did not have enough water all year round to power the water wheels . In some years it was only a few weeks. That is why dams were soon built in the upper reaches and on the side arms, the first in the 17th century by Johan Groll, which is why he was named "Grølla".
The heyday
In 1746 the Neumann family became the owners of the plant and operated it for over 60 years. It was the heyday of the ironworks. Production expanded, the factory became known for its high quality, and a number of the finest cast-iron stove tops date from this period. The first owner of the Jacob Neumann family fought tirelessly for the necessary charcoal, and in 1755 the Mining Authority decided that all 450 manors from Eiker would have to deliver wood to the Hassel ironworks. In addition, the sawmills were obliged to leave the outermost bark boards to the ironworks when sawing the logs that were unusable.
Under Jacob Neumann the ironworks got its own school for the children of the employed workers. When his widow Cathrine Neumann took over the management of the plant, she founded an aid organization for the sick and old who had worked in the plant.
Their son Frantz Edler Neumann started his own factory a little further up on the Bingselva, which was named "Friederichsminde" in honor of King Friedrich. Knives, forks, axes, spades and plowshares were produced here. When he took over the ironworks in 1799 , Friederichsminde was integrated into the Hassel-Eidenhütte.
The end
After that, the owners changed frequently. A German company also tried to continue the work. In 1854 the work was divided among several owners through an auction . Eventually they bought them, together with the water rights, from the timber merchant Peder Gregersen from Modum. Production has now been cut back sharply, but remained in place until the 1870s.
In 1888 Peder Gregersen founded a cellulose factory on the Bingselva a little further below. The melting furnaces were demolished. That was the end of the Hassel ironworks.
Remarks
- ↑ The pen scribe supervised the church property. The office was abolished in 1720.
literature
- Bent Ek: Hassel jernverk