The role of industrial development at Fiskars foundry milieu

From iron and copper foundry to a cultural and tourism site

Authors

• Rauno Sairinen University of Eastern Finland

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33355/tw.88906

Keywords:

iron works villages, cultural heritage, industrial communities, iron manufacture, industrial history, built cultural heritage

Abstract

Founded in 1649, Fiskars Ironworks village has become known over the centuries as one of the birth places of Finnish iron and copper production and processing. In later stages, metal processing changed to design and production of engineering and fine forging products. The Fiskars scissors, knives and plows that are familiar to many are born here. Fiskars has undergone a very profound restructuring over the last thirty years. Industrial ironworks village became silent and transformed into an artist and artisan village, and also a tourist and housing village. Fiskars village has gone through many periods of technological change; has sometimes been latecomer, but often also a new developer and a hub for innovation. This article analyzes Fiskars Ironworks village’s industrial transitions and their impact on the formation of the village milieu throughout its 370-year history. The article is divided into three sub-tasks: 1) Analysis of Fiskars’ industrial production phases and transitions, extending the study to the final transition to the cultural and tourism industry. 2) The phases of the development of iron works village 'milieu', that is, the physical and land-use formation of the village and their relation to productive transitions. 3) An analysis of the drivers of change and the village's own resources and resilience in historical changes. Fiskars' existing and developed resource bases – such as energy and natural resources, logistics, expertise and sufficient manpower - have been instrumental in adaptation to the changes of the surrounding world. The key to the success in recent changes has been the preservation and utilization of the historic milieu and the effective interlinkage of tourism, cultural livelihoods and permanent housing.