Lövstabruk (Leufsta Bruk), Uppsala

Royal ironworks as large as a Swedish town

In northern Uppland's forests lies Lövstabruk, once one of the world's leading ironworks, and the financial engine behind Sweden's empire-building. The royal ironworks was a world of its own, having reached the size of a Swedish town by the eighteenth century. It was set up in 1596 at the point where the waters from the mossy land north of Dannemora run down into rivers and small lakes on their way out to the Baltic Sea.

The De Geer family and the Walloons

When, in 1641, the Crown sold its ironworks, Dutchman Louis De Geer bought up Lövsta, which would remain in the De Geer family for many generations. With the immigrant owners came a 200-year period of greatness in Swedish ironworking. Louis De Geer recruited blacksmiths and furnace builders from his old home region of Wallonia, now part of southern Belgium.

Plundered by the Russians in eighteenth century

In 1719, Lövstabruk was plundered and burned by the Russians, with only a few buildings escaping the destruction. However, the ironworks was rebuilt with the help of a huge loan. The layout remained the same, with housing along the ironworks road. A new church was built in the middle of the village, while the new manor house was constructed in stone on its old site. Later in the eighteenth century, the manor house interiors were redesigned by Jean Eric Rehn, who also added the renowned library and natural history pavilions.

400 years of ironworking brought to an end

After a dip in demand for iron ore in the nineteenth century, the ironworks experienced a brief financial boom at the turn of the century. At this time, architect Isak Gustaf Clason was commissioned to improve the look of the buildings along the ironworks road. The storehouse and inn got their Renaissance gables before the economic tide turned. Today, they stand in sharp contrast to the smiths' huts of the eighteenth century. In 1917 Gimo-Österby AB bought Lövstabruk but shut down operations in 1926, bringing to an end 400 years of ironworking.

Active inn

Across the road from the manor house and Baroque park lies Lövstabruk inn, which offers a restaurant, conference facilities and accommodation in several buildings.