Kopparberg

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Not to be confused with the Kopparberg mine of the city of Falun, Dalarna landscape, Sweden..

For Kopparberg cider, see Kopparbergs Brewery.

Coordinates: 59°52′N 14°59′E / 59.867, 14.983
Kopparberg
Kopparberg in 1920s
Kopparberg
Country	Sweden
Municipality	Ljusnarsberg Municipality
County	Örebro County
Province	Västmanland
Area ^[1]
- Total	6.75 km² (2.6 sq mi)
Population (2005-12-31)^[1]
- Total	3,189
- Density	473/km² (1,225.1/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Kopparberg is a town in Bergslagen, and the seat of Ljusnarsberg Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden. It is famous for Kopparberg Cider which is now the number 1 selling pear cider in the UK and worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Koppar-berg means Copper Mountain, named after the copper mines that were, in the 1700s, a major supply of the world's copper, and a considerable addition to Swedish coffers. It lies 80 km north of Sweden's sixth most populous city, Örebro, along the north-south highway, R50, which, in turn, lies approximately midway along the 500 km/300 mile E18/E20 highway that connects Stockholm, Sweden, to Oslo, Norway. These are some of the busiest highways in Sweden.

1 Population
2 Geography
3 Tourism
- 3.1 Sight Seeing
- 3.2 Culture & Events
4 Business Life
5 Kopparberg History
6 Kopparberg's Economics
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Population

Kopparberg has approximately 4,300 inhabitants, its population steadily declining for the last 40 years. The population is ageing as the young people move away to education, jobs, and excitement in larger cities, Örebro University being one of the first attractions for many. Yet, older people born in Kopparberg, tend to return at the end of their lives. Somewhat less that 10% of the inhabitants are immigrants. This is due to the influx of immigrants the town receives through the auspices of the Swedish Government. Politically, it has a somewhat higher concentration of those who favour Miljöpartiet (Environmental Party) and Vänsterpartiet (former Communist Party).

[edit] Geography

Kopparberg lies in a mountainous mid-lower-central district of Sweden named Bergslagen (Berg = mountain, lag = law), after the regional laws and customs prevailing there. Another name that can be applied to the region is mellansverige = middle Sweden. This particular region was one of the last to be settled in Sweden. Certain varieties of plant and mushroom are only found in their particular forms in Bergslagan.

[edit] Tourism

[edit] Sight Seeing

Among the note-worthy sites are Kopparberg's Church (voted as the nicest church in Sweden), Gillersklack (ski sports, walking, pools), Finngruvan (the copper mines), and last, but not least, the sheer beauty of nature. Nearby is Kloten, a well-established recreation and hunting area. Neighbours from the eastern side of the Baltic Sea are attracted in the summer every year by the available bountiful harvests of lingonberries, a small, ground growing version of cranberry, and by huckleberries, which they call blåbär, or blueberries. They come and pick berries by the bucket, and either sell them in Sweden, or take them back to their native countries.

[edit] Culture & Events

On the last weekend of September, Kopparbergs Marknad (Fair) is held. It has been billed as the third largest fair in Sweden. Around 125,000 people come, depending on the weather, for Friday afternoon and evening (carnival only, which continues through Sunday afternoon), and Saturday and Sunday. Many items are sold: clothing, footwear & jewellery, electrical and entertainment goods, cooking and household goods, food, corn-on-the-cob. Some live entertainment is to be had.

Once yearly, in late June/early July the town is host to a yearly gold panning contest. The Swedish Gold Panning Championships has been held several times and Kopparberg has also hosted The World Gold Panning Championships.

Once yearly, a gemshow, billed as the largest in Europe, is held on the north end of town.

Opera på Skäret: This art oriented association outside town is host to concerts and events.

13th July every year a special day for the memory of the Treskilling Yellow stamp is held. The stamp is the most valuable postage stamp in the world, and it was stamped in Kopparberg July 13, 1857.

[edit] Business Life

Most of those who live in Kopparberg live there for the nature and quiet life, not for the huge amounts of money to be made from the ageing population on pensions. It is hoped that broadband DSL and tele-commuting will redistribute the workforce, and make the countryside more attractive to inhabit. At present, elder care, hospice, healthcare, rehabilitation, and education are the largest industries. A couple of Internet businesses have sprung up. Business seems to have diversified slightly over the last 10 years.

[edit] Kopparberg History

[edit] Kopparberg's Mines

According to current reckoning, an ancient meteor landed approximately 14.5 million years ago to the west-northwest of the city. This area is particularly rich in some minerals, and a most varied variety of minerals is to be found in the region. Copper was discovered on the surface no later than 1634 on the hills that are now part of the town of Kopparberg, itself, and stretching out to the north. Word quickly spread of the richness of the copper veins. As mining, particularly in the winter, was a hard enterprise, and the Finns were acclimatized to hard work under cold conditions, they readily took to mining and refining this rich source of copper. The most famous and largest mine is called Finngruvan (Fin = Finland or Finns, gruv = mine), which lies just outside of the town, proper, to the north. The veins were almost completely pure copper, with trace amounts of silver and gold.

[edit] Kopparberg's Church

In the old days, the church was a source of activity for one day a week. Kopparberg's church was begun in 1635, and the first incarnation was completed shortly thereafter. The church was voted as the most beautiful church in Sweden in a voting held by the Swedish magazine Året Runt in February 2006. The church is named Ljusnarsbergs Kyrka after the parish Ljusnarsberg.

In 1674 a residence for the clock (bells) keeper was created. That site serves today as the headquarters and school for KomVux, a multi-purpose educational institution for those training for new work, those out of work, and immigrants. You can notice the age of the building by how you have to stoop to go through the inner doors between rooms. People were shorter in the olden days.

[edit] Ljusnarsberg Architecture

Most old buildings are log cabins and tree-houses (trä-hus, as the Swedes call them). These are mostly protected by red stain produced from the mines of the name of Kopparberg in Falun. This stain is universal in Sweden and all the barns are painted with Falun Red, with very few exceptions. This gives the landscape a uniform effect: Grass is green and barns and houses are red. Later, many of these, not all, came to be covered with mortar, stucco, and other sidings, giving them even more cold resistance and durability. Many of these buildings from hundreds of years ago are still standing and quite functional.

[edit] Kopparberg's Economics

The first employment in the area came about because of the mines. At that time it was mining, smelting, and various general supportive enterprises which formed the basis of the town.

Later metal products and manufacturing came into vogue. B. Nilsson AB's Bandstål (steel band or tape) manufacturing and sales is still in business in the business park to the south of town, called Bångbro (bang bridge), so-called because it lies south of the bridge and industries used to produce continuous repetitive banging sounds.

More recently, one of the town's older and major employers is the Kopparbergs Brewery, owned by a pair of brothers, which manufactures many alcoholic products. Kopparberg Premium Cider is one of their brands of Swedish fruit ciders available since 1997, which is distributed to Germany, England, Scotland, Finland and the Republic of Ireland amongst other countries. The ciders are manufactured with alcohol content that varies from 0 to 8.5%. Many flavours are in production, but the most widely distributed are Apple, Pear and Raspberry/Blackcurrant (although strawberry is gaining popularity). The Pear Cider is sold by IKEA worldwide.

The brewery also makes the most popular beer in Sweden, called Sofiero Original. Sofiero has been the most popular beer in Sweden since the release in 2003.

More recently, a foreign company, called QXL, came to do an Internet bid-on-products until deadline (eBay-type) business from Kopparberg. PC Express bought the firm and used the warehouse, but later moved the business to Sweden's capital Stockholm.