World Heritage Site Engelsberg ironworks is considered to be one of the finest industrial monuments in the world. The first owner of the Engelsberg was Per Larsson, ennobled Gyllenhöök. In 1728, Per’s son Anders Gyllenhöök sold it to the Söderhielm family who modernised it and built a new manor house in 1746. It was then taken over by Anders Hebbe but he sold it to Gabriel Casper Timm in 1825. He, like his predecessors at Engelsberg, undertook a modernization process to keep the business up to date, the manor house was also included.

It was made an entailed estate in 1832 for the Timm family but in 1887 the financial basis for the works started to crumble and he was forced to close shortly thereafter. His son and grandson tried to continue the work but to no luck. They closed their business in 1890 and from 1891-1915 it was used by others.

When Consul General Axel Ax:son Johnson purchased the estate in 1916 and incorporated it with Avesta Jernverk the entailed estate ceased to exist. The production at Engelsberg would only continue for another 3 years before it was closed down for good. Axel did however continue with smaller projects and had it not been for him and his descendents Engelsberg would probably have been lost for good. Today, it is still owned by the Ax:son Johnson family via their company Nordstjernan AB and houses the company’s extensive archive of companies and organisations that have been owned by the family.

The ironworks is open for the public and there is much to see – the manor, the works itself, the workers’ quarters, gardens, shop and café. It is well worth a visit and it is a glance into the Swedish ironworks history.