Industrial Museum Gnosjö

Iron has been handled in Gnosjö since the beginning of the 18th century. There were three ironworks within borders of the modern Municipality of Gnosjö, where iron ore from the Taberg mine south of Jönköping, and from the bottom of the many lakes in the region, was worked up. Men from the Gnosjö region went to learn the metalworking skills of this trade at the rifle factory in Jönköping, 75 kilometres further north. Eventually they returned home, establishing smithies and wire factories.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th century brass found its way to Gnosjö. This meant the establishment of small foundries for the casting of a number of brass products. Around 1864 an iron foundry was constructed at Häryd near Gnosjö. At Häryd there also was a blast furnace, where the ore taken from the lakes nearby was melted into pig-iron, which then was worked up in the foundry.

The cooperation between these different workshops and foundries was the very beginning of the small scale manufacturing industry, that later would make the trademark Gnosjö widely known not only in Sweden, but also abroad to some extent.

It all started with items of wire and cast products of iron, brass and other metals. Out of a very simple start with cottage industry and handicraft, it has developed into an local industry characterised by small companies and production plants, great flexibility and advanced technology. In the Municipality of Gnosjö today - with a population of about 10,000 - there are no less than 380 manufacturing companies. In our museums you can see how it all began and how it has developed.

Gnosjö Heritage Society, Stiftelsen J.E. Hylténs Metallvarufabrik (The Hyltén Foundation) and the Municipality of Gnosjö