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

paint for wooden buildings which has become something of a hallmark for the
Nordic countries - Falun sausage, a staple component of the Swedish diet, Falun
vinegar and Falun schnapps. A 19th century wooden doll, turned at the lathe and
known as the Falun Maiden, has come to be a typical Falun souvenir and symbol.
Many well-known cultural personalities have lived and worked in Falun, deriving
inspiration from the Great Copper Mountain. They have included, for example, the
poet Georg Stierhielm (1598-1672), the priest Jesper Svedberg (1653-1735), the
philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), authoress and Nobel-prize winner
Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940), the artist Carl Larsson (1853-1919) and the group of
artists known as Falugrafikerna, headed by Axel Fridell (1894-1935). But probably
the best-known Falun resident outside Sweden is an ordinary mine worker called
Mats Israelsson, alias “Fat Mats” who was killed by a collapse in the mine in 1677
and his body was found 42 years later, in 1719. He became known as the petrified
mine worker from Falun, and both novels and operas have been written about him.
During the 19th century the Great Copper Mountain declined in importance. The
company looked for other means of survival instead of copper mining. Iron sulphite,
but also lead, zinc, silver and gold, were now being mined in increasing quantities. In
1888 the Great Copper Mountain was reconstituted as a modern limited company,
Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB. The old copper furnaces were abandoned and
large new factories erected. A new extraction plant, copper vitriol plant, iron vitriol
plant and sulphuric acid factory were added already in the 1870s. Later a vinegar
factory was built, followed in the 1920s by a new ore-dressing plant. Outside Falun
itself, ever since the mid-18th century, the company had been buying up iron mines
and establishing ironworks, an activity which grew during the 19th century and made
the company one of the leading Swedish concerns in the iron and steel industry and
in forest industry, dealing in paper and sawn timber. These industrial sites are
protected but not included in this area.
The Great Copper Mountain and its mine in Falun was still alive and in use when the
company celebrated its 7th centenary in 1988. By the end of 1992, however, all
viable deposits of ore had been exhausted and the mine was closed. The last round of
shots in the Great Copper Mountain was fired on 8th December 1992.
Production of Falun (Swedish) red paint is the only industrial activity which remains
at the mine. This distinctive paint has been produced on a large scale at the Great
Copper Mountain ever since 1764, putting colour into the timber buildings of
Sweden and the other Nordic countries. The famous author August Strindberg took
the view that the Swedish flag ought to be red and green instead of blue and yellow -
green for the forest that covers most of its land area, and red for Falun (Swedish) red
paint, the paint most commonly to be seen on Swedish houses.
International developments
The Great Copper Mountain, with its unique antiquity, importance and size, has also
had contacts beyond Sweden. Impulses and borrowings from abroad have played an
important part in its development.
During the 13th century, Swedish-German trade and German settlement in Sweden
had gathered speed. In all probability it was German technicians and businessmen
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