Österbybruk

Österbybruk is beautifully located in Roslagen and offers a beautiful manor house, historical mill environment and plenty of activities around arts and crafts. When we were here, not everything had opened yet, but despite that we had a nice afternoon.

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Österbybruk is one of the so-called vallonbruken in Uppland, and for a long time it functioned as an ironworks. Today they take care of the cultural-historical environment and offer many different activities for visitors. When we were here, the Wärdshuset was open, as were several of the small craft shops. In addition, we got to experience the fantastically beautiful surroundings, and could listen to history on our mobile phones via QR codes.

Österbybruk is located in the municipality of Östhammar in Uppland, about 11 kilometres north of Stockholm and about 8 kilometres southeast of Gävle.

Gustav Vasa, Louis de Geer and Gammel-Tammen

Already in the 16th century, and perhaps even earlier, iron processing was carried out in the area around Österbybruk. Gustav Vasa had Österbybruk's ironworks developed and when it was taken over by Willem de Besche and Louis de Geer in the 17th century, a major industry emerged.

In the 18th century the mill was acquired by the Grill family and in the 19th century it was inherited by his relative Per Adolf Tamm. In his old age, he was nicknamed "Gammel-Tammen", which is the name of the mill's inn today.

Österbybruk manor house

The most beautiful building at Österbybruk is the yellow manor house. Originally a wooden main building, the mansion you see today was built by the Grill family in the 1760s. In the early 19th century, the manor was taken over by the "Gammel-Tammen" and between 1917 and 1932 the artist Bruno Liljefors lived here.

The most beautiful view of the manor is from the Manor Park. The garden was planted by Carl Hårleman in the 1740s and completed 20 years later. There is also a memorial monument erected by Tamm "in gratitude and reverence" to his aunt Anna Johanna Grill, who had left the estate to him. The monument was designed by Göthe and the medallion by Sergel.

The poppy forge at Österbybruk

Another interesting attraction at Österbybruk is the old Walloon forge. When Louis de Geer took over the operation, and eventually the ownership, he recruited Walloon blacksmiths from his homeland. They built a poppy forge, which has been preserved almost completely today.

The poppy forge is sometimes open for viewing or guided tours, but since it was closed when we were here, we had to settle for peering in through one of the windows. This was like looking straight back in time, several hundred years. Fascinating that this still exists!

Crafts and shops

Today, many craftsmen and artists spend time in Österbybruk and there are several small shops. We looked into a shop with ceramics and an art exhibition, and at the same time had a nice conversation with the ceramist on site. She told us that in addition to arts and crafts, this summer they will also focus on activities for children.

The Orangery Garden

At Österbybruk there is also the Orangery Garden, which is a cultural-historical garden with lots of different plants.

You could also look in, read about the history, talk for a while or maybe buy a plant.

Dannemora mines

When we visited Österbybruk, we realised that we were very close to the Dannemora mines, which are the mines that once supplied this and other mills with iron.

Here we could see, among other things, a cute little bell tower from 1754, an ore block from a depth of 145 metres and "Örner's shaft", which in 1743 had a depth of 300 metres, and today has a depth of 350 metres. However, the deepest shaft at Dannemora mines extends all the way down to a depth of 620 metres.

There are also two viewpoints where you can look down into opencast mines, the largest of which is called Storrymningen and is 270 metres long, 60 metres wide and originally 14o metres deep. The size was difficult to capture on film!

In summary, it was a nice and interesting visit to Österbybruk and Dannemora mines.

Dannemora gruva — It looks heavy to push that cart!

See more around Österbybruk

In the vicinity of Lövstabruk there are more poppy farms, such as Lövstabruk and Forsmark's mill. It is also close to visit beautiful and interesting Salsta Castle. There are also great destinations on the east coast, such as fine Öregrund and Ängskär sea camping.

Lövstabruk is also fantastically beautiful

Otters on the road

This time we continued our journey southwards. Shortly after we left, we saw a sign telling us to watch out for ... well, what? We had never seen a similar sign and at first thought it seemed to warn of ... monitor lizards? Thanks to sharing the image on Instagram we now know that it is a warning sign for otters, of which there are probably plenty in the area.

Facts about Österbybruk

Address: Herrgårdsvägen 1, Österbybruk
Municipality: Östhammar municipality
County: Uppsala County
Landscape: Uppland
The construction of the mansion: 1763 – 1780
Owners: The mansion and some 20 other buildings are owned by the Bruno Liljefors Foundation.
Read more: You can find more information at the mansion's website.

Tours and activities

Views: Guided tours are organised under normal circumstances in the mansion and the forge. Ghost tours are also organised.
Museum: The Carriage Museum and the Agricultural Museum.
Exhibitions: Art exhibitions
Activities for children: Solve the mystery of the farm ghost, create your own art, try traditional games and more.
Events: Courses in lime plaster and painting as well as exhibitions, concerts, theatre, fairs, wool market, Eldfesten, Gille and nyckelharpsstämma and more.

Services and practical information

Opening hours: For current opening hours, see the Österbybruk Manor website.
Food service: The Gammel Tammen Inn serves lunch and dinner. The stable café serves coffee and light lunches.
Shops: Antique shops, craft shops, second-hand, recycled and locally produced goods.
Accommodation: The Gammel Tammen Inn has 15 rooms. The hostel Annexet has ten double rooms. Simbadets camping has cabins and pitches for motorhomes/caravans.

Finding Österbybruk

Car: Take road 290. From the south, take the exit at Storvreta, towards Forsmark. From the north, take the Tierp exit and road 292.
Municipal: Bus 823 runs from Uppsala. You can also take the Upptåget train and change to bus 823 in Skyttorp.

History of Österbybruk

15th century: Österby farm belonged to Örbyhus, which was owned by the Vasa family.
16th century: With the help of German experts, Gustav Vasa set up an ironworks specialising in war materials.
1632: Österbybruk was leased to Willem de Besche and Louise de Geer, along with Lövsta and Gimo crown farms.
1758: Österbybruk was acquired by Claes Grill, the owner of the East India Company.
1802: Anna Johanna Grill gave half of the mill to Per Adolf Tamm (who was called Gammel-Tammen in the old days).
1821: Per Adolf Tamm became the sole owner of Österbybruk, and owned the mill until his death, when his heirs formed Österbruk AB.
1927: The mill was operated by Fagersta AB.
1983: The business was closed down, but lived on through Österby Gjuteri AB. The estate is now owned by a foundation with the task of preserving the cultural heritage.

History at Dannemora mine

1481: The oldest record of the mines is from this period, but it is likely that iron ore was processed even earlier.
1600-1700s: More than 30 large and small mills were established in Uppland, and these based their production on the Dannemora mines.
18th century: The mines were jointly managed.
1937: AB Dannemora Gruvor was formed.
1948-1958: Mining was modernised
1978: SSAB became the owner of the mines.
1992: The mine was closed because it was no longer considered profitable. By this time, a total of 24 million tonnes of ore products had been extracted.
2012: Dannemora mines were reopened, but went bankrupt again in 2015.

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READ MORE: Things to do in Uppland - sights and experiences

5 Comments

Add yours →

Ann-Louise Paulsson says:

Nice pictures! I was here in 1989 so it's been a while... must go back soon. 🙂 Am really keen to visit the other poppy farms as well.

25 May 2021 - 8:52

Ama de casa says:

Österbybruk is a familiar neighbourhood for me. Anders' grandmother and grandfather lived in the area and we often visited them. Anders' real grandfather immigrated from "Vallonia" and worked in the forges. However, he died at a young age and his grandmother remarried. Anders' "plastic grandfather" lived longer, reaching 104 years of age. So there are certainly healthy areas around there and in Österbybruk 🙂.

25 May 2021 - 9:33

Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:

I have not been there, but I have been on my way there.
I have a friend in Uppsala and we were heading there, but it was winter and really bad weather, so we only made it to Östhammar. So I still have this mill on my to-do list.
Thanks for the interesting post!

25 May 2021 - 12:08

BP says:

I have actually visited the Österbybruk and Dannemora mines, but that was many, many years ago.
Of all the places you have visited so far, Österbybruk, at least the inn there and the smithy are the first buildings that need renovation = repainting.

25 May 2021 - 19:06

Lena - good for the soul says:

How beautiful it looks! A place that is on the wish list! It is located almost in our hoods so it should not be so difficult to go there 🙂 .

Hug Lena

13 June 2021 - 8:01

Österbybruk - mansion and mill environment in Roslagen

Österbybruk

Gustav Vasa, Louis de Geer and Gammel-Tammen

Österbybruk manor house

The poppy forge at Österbybruk

Crafts and shops

The Orangery Garden

Dannemora mines

See more around Österbybruk

Otters on the road

Facts about Österbybruk

Tours and activities

Services and practical information

Finding Österbybruk

History of Österbybruk

History at Dannemora mine

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5 Comments

Ann-Louise Paulsson says:

Ama de casa says:

Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:

BP says:

Lena - good for the soul says:

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