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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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GEOLOGY ON POST STAMPS |
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Szwecja / Sweden
Kopalnia rud miedzi Falun w zachodniej Szwecji, znaczek wydany w roku 1970.
Copper ore mine Falun in western Sweden; the stamp issued in 1970.
Coll. G. Barczyk
The Falun Mine - What would Falun be without the Falun Copper Mine? Well, maybe a little agricultural district or a trade district. It it’s the Copper Mine that has put its mark on the town and has been the main reason why Falun was created. Because when copper was discovered one thousand years ago there were only a few regular settlements in the area. According to the legend, the goat Kåre came home with reddish horns and fur to his farmer master. The farmer got curious and followed his goat the day after and in that way found The Copper Mountain, in Swedish "Stora Kopparberg". Maybe it was like that, who knows?
But with the help of geologists we know that the mine in Falun has been used for over 1000 years. Mining operations started sometimes the year 850 and the mining came to an end in the Falun Mine in December, 1992. A letter is dated 16 June, 1288, where bishop Peter in Västerås became owner of Tiskasjöberg, which was the name of the Falun Mine at that time. That is the first proof of organized activity in the Mine.
The Copper Mountain early became one of the country’s central spots. Sweden was, otherwise, a poor and undeveloped farming society and the copper in Falun therefore became a source of wealth for the whole country. Thanks to the large deposits of copper many kings surveyed the activity, among others, Gustav Vasa. And all this because copper mining was supposed to give as much money as possibly to the public treasury. For several hundred years the mine was also Sweden’s (and Falun’s) biggest financial resource. People talked about "The States treasury".
During the 17th century mining was most profitable. At this time the big Copper Mountain was the biggest copper producer in the whole of Europe. In the 17th century, Falun was also the country’s second biggest city, after Stockholm. This because of the mine. The copper was what gave Falun its renowned position both in and outside the borders of the country. By the middle of the century, when the Falun Mine had its period of greatness, 90.000 tons of ore were mined, from of which 3000 tons of copper was obtained. The ore was smelted in furnaces and the smog was thick over the surrounding countryside. The environmental pollution was enormous but the district was rich.
Copper is called cuprum in Latin and its chemical term is Cu. It was natural that the coppermark came to symbolize the rich copper mine in Falun, the Great Copper Mountain. The symbol has since become a symbol for the city of Falun.
In the mine activity was in full swing both day and night. At the end of the day the miners made fires at the place where the mining was to take place the day after, because it made it easier to extract ore in the rock face. By digging tunnels in the mountain they could get to the copper. In one month the workers could dig as deep as one meter in their tunnels and the ore that they had been extracted was carried out of the mine in barrows. No training was demanded but muscles were necessary, because of the very heavy work. It is said that the older mine workers used the carrying of ore barrows as a way of testing newcomers. It was not entire risk free to work in the mine. Among other things the mining was going on during the 17th century in majority shaft to extract as much as possible. For that reason the mining caused for that reason many caving-ins but the biggest and most known is the caving-in that took place Midsummer Day 1687. At that time some the walls collapsed and a huge hollow was formed. In Swedish called "Stora Stöten". A hollow big enough to hold The Castle of Stockholm or The St Peters church in Rom. Luckily, all mineworkers had the day off and no one died in the caving-in. The hole got 150 meter deep and was filled with stones. From the big race lots they could now bring the copper ore up, that was impossible to reach before the caving-in.
That nobody died in this big landslide in 1687 has to be seen as an unbelievable luck. It often occurred smaller ones were mineworkers had to put their lives at risk. Statistics from the 1680s shows that 1707 was the year where the most accidents, there were 27 dead. There were five other years with between 19 and 12 deaths. After 1740 there are not one single year which exceed six deaths. The accidents were reduced and at the end of the 19th century the death rate had been reduced to one death every second year.
A Dalecarlian who has been famous all over the world is Matts Israelsson, also known as "Fat Matts". The story begins in 1676 or 1677. In one of the many caving-in that occurred in the mine Matts Israelsson disappeared when he alone went into the mine. After not hearing from him. It took more than forty years before they found him fairly safe and sound. It is told that the body was so safe and sound that they thought that the man were asleep. After a little while they realise who it was an how long the man had been dead. The body had namely been embalmed in the vitriolic water. Even the clothes were safe and sound. The majorities agreed to show Fat Matts for the public. Among the people who made a pilgrimage to the mine to look at the "stoned", was a woman who recognized the man as her betrothed , who disappeared 42 years ago. The earthly remnants of the lost mineworker were shown to the public for over 30 years, stored in a blue painted closet in the mine cabin. After a while the body started to fall into pieces and they where forced to bury the body. In 1930, after many turns, the body of Fat Matts got a definitive resting-place in Stora Kopparbergs church in Falun.
Today the mine is an attractive tourism place. In 1970 they put parts of the mine in order to get a visitors mine where tourist could see how the mine was run. The activity is driven by a foundation existing of Stora, Falu municipality and Dalarnas relic of antiquity and community centre. The number of visitors amounts to approximately 80-100.000 people of the year.
Z / From: http://users.du.se/~lmh98lae/mine.html
