Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun - UNESCO ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2. Justification for Inscription a. Statement of significance “Falun Mine deserves indeed to be called the eighth wonder of the world, for as regards the difficulty of the work and the pains and expense which it demands, the age, renown and importance of the mine, it not only equals but surpasses all the others (…) He who has not seen the Great Copper Mountain has not seen Sweden..” Thus the map-engineer (markscheider) Olof Naucler wrote in a dissertation about the Great Copper Mountain in 1702. Innumerable are the travellers, princes, ambassadors and kings who have visited at Falun and been fascinated and terrified by the vast depths of the mine, the dark, constricted working spaces, the shafts and galleries below ground and the appalling furnace smoke by which Falun and its surroundings were perpetually wreathed in sulphurous fumes of almost asphyxiating density. Buildings in the mining town of Falun were blackened and all vegetation was suffocated. Round about the mines and copper furnaces, the ground was laid bare and completely sterile. The black slag landscape presented neither moss, lichen, grass, shrubs nor trees within a radius of 2.5 km from the mine. The Great Copper Mountain (in swedish "Stora Kopparberget") at Falun is the oldest and most important mining enterprise in Sweden. Its oldest surviving document dates from 1288 and the oldest surviving charter from 1347. Scientific analyses suggest that the history of the mine goes back even further, to the eighth or ninth century A.D. Round about the Great Copper Mountain in medieval times was created a unique man-made landscape and a distinctive cultural region known as Kopparbergslagen. During the 16th and 17th centuries the Great Copper Mountain was the mainstay of Sweden’s economy, enabling the country to become one of the leading states of Europe. In the mid-17th century, the Great Copper Mountain was providing twothirds of all the world’s copper output. In the mid-17th century, the government of the realm declared: “This kingdom stands or falls by the Great Copper Mountain!” Copper from Falun was exported all over the world and provided shining copper roofs for palaces like Versailles in Paris and for churches and manor houses in Sweden and Europe. Spain adopted a copper coinage standard and used coins struck in Falun copper. In Sweden, mints were established at Säter in 1624 and at Avesta in 1644. The Swedish 10-daler piece, weighing about 20 kg, is regarded as the largest sheet metal coin in the world. The Great Copper Mountain was organised as a corporative operation, with yeomen miners (bergsmän) owning shares (known as fjärdeparter) proportional to their holdings of copper furnaces or shares in the same. The 1347 charter dealt among other things with ore extraction, settlement and trade within the region. The organisation of the mine was an early precursor of the joint stock companies of later ages, and it is often referred to as “the oldest company in the world”. The Great Copper Mountain and its Cultural Landscape in Falun has a unique, outstandingly rich industrial history, with excellent documentation, collections, 5
archives, museums and visitor activities. The Falun Mine, the town of Falun itself and parts of Kopparbergslagen are protected areas, listed as places of national interest by Sweden’s heritage management authority. The Great Copper Mountain leaves its imprint on the town of Falun and the surrounding man-made landscape. Actual mining operations were discontinued on 8th December 1992, but the Great Copper Mountain is a major tourist attraction, with a visitors’ mine which receives about 60,000 visitors annually. Tens of thousands more people - both tourists and local residents - come to the mine for museum visits, conferences, heritage walks, festivities and other programmes. The man-made landscape surrounding the mine contains historic buildings, slag heaps, remains of blast furnaces and other industrial monuments. Beautiful manor houses, furnace sites and a remarkable agrarian landscape exists within a 40 km hinterland surrounding the mine. The town of Falun has well-preserved timber buildings from the 15th and subsequent centuries, as well as many other beautiful 17th and 18th century buildings. The wooden town of Falun was one of the pilot projects during European Architectural Heritage Year, 1975. Justification highlights about the Great Copper Mountain: The Great Copper Mountain is one of the oldest and most important mines in the world. In the mid-17th century, the Great Copper Mountain provided two-thirds of all the world’s copper output. It was the mainstay of Sweden’s economy and made Sweden one of the leading states of Europe. The Great Copper Mountain is surrounded by a unique cultural region called Kopparbergslagen. The surroundings are dominated by remarkable and beautiful manor houses, blast furnace sites and a distinctive agrarian landscape. The town of Falun near the Great Copper Mountain includes a unique urban settlement. The wooden town of Falun is one of the biggest in Sweden and was a pilot project during European Architectural Heritage Year, 1975. Kopparbergslagen has innumerable industrial remains and monuments. Adjoining the Great Copper Mountain are the oldest dam lakes, canals and dikes in Sweden. The Great Copper Mountain has been a leading centre of technical development in Sweden. Many famous Swedish scientists, technologists, engineers and metallurgists worked at the mine. Classical Swedish products have been created at the Great Copper Mountain and named after the mining town of Falun - Falun sausage, Falun red paint (“Swedish red”), Falun vinegar, Falun schnapps and the Falun Maiden (a wooden doll). The Great Copper Mountain has engendered many Swedish industrial enterprises, such as Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB (STORA), the Kvarnsveden paper mill, the 6
Page 1 and 2: WHC Nomination Documentation File N
Page 3 and 4: Contents 1. Identification of the P
Page 5: e. Map showing boundary of the area
Page 15 and 16: c. Authenticity/Integrity Mining an
Page 17 and 18: Eric Geisler and Notary Carl Halldi
Page 19 and 20: 71. Office. 72. The Paint Factory -
Page 21 and 22: Landskansliet (1769), Munktellska H
Page 23 and 24: Copper from Falun was exported all
Page 25 and 26: paint for wooden buildings which ha
Page 27 and 28: Heritage conservation The Great Cop
Page 29 and 30: d. Present state of conservation Th
Page 31 and 32: which still have a viable function
Page 33 and 34: Once a building has been listed the
Page 35 and 36: importance, the requirement is stri
Page 37 and 38: Binding regulations of land use and
Page 39 and 40: f. Agreed plans related to property
Page 41 and 42: established by the Municipality, fu
Page 43 and 44: j. Property management plan and sta
Page 45 and 46: 5. Factors Affecting the Property a
Page 47 and 48: 6. Monitoring a. Key indicators for
Page 49 and 50: Printed sources and secondary works
Page 51 and 52: —, The inception of copper mining
Page 53 and 54: —, Bergslagens hyttspråk. Uppsal
Page 55 and 56: Much, M., Die Kupferzeit in Europa
Page 57 and 58:
—, Sveriges äldsta bergverks fö
Page 59 and 60:
B Central Archives, documents from
Page 62 and 63:
Appendix 2 Project Plan for the fut
Page 64 and 65:
Museums The mineryeoman landscape S
Page 66 and 67:
Illustrations: Appendix 3 The visio
Page 68 and 69:
uilt up in the 1400 th century and
Page 70 and 71:
Photographs from the Great Copper M
Page 72 and 73:
83 The New Crown dike (A 3). 84 The
Page 74 and 75:
famous artist Carl Larsson, who liv
Page 223 and 224:
Falun (Sweden) No 1027 Identificati
Page 225 and 226:
Staberg is particularly noteworthy
Page 227 and 228:
ICOMOS Recommendation That this pro
Page 229 and 230:
des canaux sont construits pour app
Page 231 and 232:
En vertu du code de protection de l
show all

Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in Falun - UNESCO ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?