The Site

This location once hosted an array of factory buildings, alongside residential properties and commercial stores. The majority of these structures were torn down following the closure of the factory in 1982, and during the environmental cleanup of the area from 2003 to 2009. The aerial photograph, taken in 1979, offers a view over Köpmanholmen. Your current position corresponds roughly to the large dark building visible at the center of this image.

According to the Köpmanholmen’s Industrial Museum’s website, the following information is highlighted:

”Köpmanholmen traces its roots back to an old industrial settlement founded in the 1860s, when a steam-powered sawmill was built at the mouth of the Nätra River. The local industry further expanded in 1907 with the addition of a sulfite factory and again in 1930 with a sulfate factory. At its peak, the sawmill, lumberyard, and factories provided employment for around 800 people. The town saw significant expansion and prosperity from 1896 to 1964. In 1964, the factory was acquired by the NCB, a collective of forest owners. By 1977, the sawmill had ceased operations and by 1982, the entire pulp industry had painfully vanished from the town.”

The accompanying photograph offers a view of the sulfite and sulfate factories, taken around 1930 by Bertil Westin.

Köpmanholmen’s Factory Garden

The Factory Garden is a site-specific work of art consisting of plants and sculptures. It is constructed of various halls, a reference to the names that the factory’s large manufacturing spaces had, such as the cardboard hall. With the factory garden, we want to draw attention to the closed-down mill, industrial history, the working culture that existed, the encounter with the present, the people at the site today, and the memories that are soon forgotten. Life as a factory worker was both dangerous and toxic, but the factory was the base which everyone depended on and led to the growth and prosperity of the community. Today, most of the buildings have been demolished and the land on the factory area has been remediated.

Köpmanholmen’s Factory Garden is run by a non-profit association. If you would like to support the activities, please consider becoming a member. Information about the membership fee, bank giro, and swish number, as well as additional information about the artwork and the activities, can be found on the website ”Köpmanholmens Factory Garden”.