Areas of Recreation & History

World Heritage
In 1972 UNESCO adopted a world heritage convention with the primary goal of preserving the world’s natural and cultural heritage. The objects chosen by the World Heritage Council are placed on a world heritage list. Engelsberg was chosen in 1993. The motivation was that “Engelsbergs Bruk is a superb example of an industrial complex from the 16 to 1800s with important technical artefacts, as well as intact administrative and residence housing.”
Other Swedish treasures on the list are the Drottningholm Palace complex, Birka and Hovgården, the Skogskyrkogården, the Tanum petroglyphs, the city of Visby, Gammelstad Church Village, Luleå, Lappland’s world heritage area Laponia, the naval city of Karlskrona, Höga Kusten (High Coast), the cultivation country on southern Öland island and the Stora Kopparberget plus Falun.

Engelsbergs Bruk
The first miner to set up a foundry here was one Englika. His name is remembered in the Engelsberg Iron Mill that developed at the end of the 1600s under Per Larsson Höök.

The current manor house is from the mid-1700s, while the wings and the two cinder-stone towers were built in the later part of the same century when the Engelsbergs Bruk was owned by the Söderhielm family.

The blast furnace facility is one of the few earth and timber foundries left in Sweden. Its oldest sections are from the 1700s and the blast furnace was blown out for the last time in 1919. The hammer mill just below the manor house remains as it was after a rebuilding in 1845.

During the 1800s, Engelsbergs Bruk was owned by the Timm family. In 1916, Clas Gabriel Timm sold the mill to Consul-general Axel Ax:son Johnson to be managed by Avesta Jernverk. Today Engelsbergs Bruk is owned and managed by Nordstjernan AB.

The mill is open daily during the summer and for groups at other times.

Ängelsberg
The lovely views and towered houses of Ängelsberg lie app. 15 km from central Fagersta.

The Ulvaklev and Hwilan houses in Ängelsberg and the Odensnäs estate near the Västervåla Church were drawn by the Stockholm architect Isak Gustaf Clason. His villas have inspired local builders to build imaginative residences on the shores of lake Åmänningen. Those houses registered as historic buildings by the County Board are protected by law. There are three such buildings in Ängelsberg – Engelsbergs bruk, Engelsbergs oil factory and Odensnäs (added 2003).

Around 1900, Ängelsberg, or Engelsberg as it was written, was a popular resort. Famous artists like Olof Arborelius, Arvid Mauritz Lindström and Ernst Lundström spent much time here. The heritage from the artist colony here is managed by the Engelsberg Konstgille art association together with the art gallery in the area. One result was the creation of a sculpture park where ten artists from the province exhibited works. A few were acquired and there are plans for an annual repetition with new exhibitions from May to September.

Oljeön Island
August Ålund was the man with the crazy idea of establishing an oil refinery in Bergslagen. After some experimentation and a number of explosions, he finally built his factory on Oljeön Island outside Ängelsberg in 1875. For fifty years thereafter, the Engelsberg Oljefabrik supplied illuminating oil, weapons grease, machine grease and kerosene.

There are six buildings extant on the island, including the factory, a cookhouse and a residence.

Today the island is owned by Preem Petroleum AB. The Swedish Industrial Monuments Association chose this the world’s oldest oil refinery as the 1999 Industrial Monument. It is open daily during the summer with access from the mainland via the Petrolia ferry.

Primitive blast furnaces in Dunshammar
Dunshammar, 3 km S of Ängelsberg, is the site of well-preserved primitive blast furnaces from the Iron Age. Shaped like pits in the ground, they are dressed with rocks and clay. Open to visitors. Excellent signs.

Trummelsberg
The Trummelsberg Bruk was founded in 1622 by one Olof Trummel. The foundry was last fired in 1907. What remains today are the ruins of the foundry and helve hammer from the 1800s, as well as the characteristic cinder stone pillars of the charcoal house.

Strömsholm Canal - much more than just water
In 1995, the Strömsholm Canal was 200 yeras old. The celebration included H.R.H. the Crown Princess Victoria´s naming of the Västanfors lock, all the others already carrying royal names. The 100-km long canal follows the Kolbäckså River system through the Smedjebacken, Fagersta, Surahammar and Hallstahammar municipalities. On the way it passes 14 lakes, 26 locks (six in Fagersta) and drops 100 metres.

The canal was built to transport iron from the various Bergslagen mills to Stockholm and on to the Continent. Today it’s possible to travel the length of the old transport route in leisure boat or canoe. You can also take a canal trip on the M/S Strömsholm on a regular schedule from mid-June to mid-August. Canoes can be hired in all the canal municipalities and retransport can be arranged for a fee. A map for the posted bicycle path along the canal is available in the tourist bureaux.