Frederiksværk is a town in North Zealand with 12,694 inhabitants (2020), located between Arresø and Roskilde Fjord. The city is located in Halsnæs Municipality in the northwestern part of the Capital Region.
When Major General J.F. Classen and his companion Just Fabritius were given the work in 1756, the city was named by royal decree, after the work and the king. Frederik's work - or in the Danish of the time: Friderichsværck.
When the flying sand had blocked both
Arresø's old connection with the Kattegat to the north and later its
connection with the Isefjord, Frederik IV had a canal 1717-19 dug by
Danish soldiers under the command of Major Eberlin v. Feriden. After
an old tradition, however, it was Swedish prisoners who carried out
the work, and this may also be true, as Swedish prisoners often went
into Danish service or were put to work and even rented out to
landowners. The canal was the precondition for the construction of
large factory facilities that utilized hydropower. At the same time,
the town of Frederiksværk emerged.
Early factory trials
In
1728, Frederik IV entrusted overland builder Johan Kornelius Krieger
to build an agate grinder by the canal. The mill was taken into use
in 1729, but it was already closed down immediately after the death
of Christian VI in 1746. In the following years, there were plans to
transform the mill into a leather factory, which, however, did not
materialize. On the other hand, in 1751 the king took over a larger
stretch by the river and left it to the Frenchman Etienne Jandin de
Peyrembert to build a cannon plant here. Although the king fired
significant sums into the project, the work of producing usable
cannons failed. In 1756, Frederik V donated the agate mill to State
Councilor Just Fabritius and Chancellor, later Major General, Johan
Frederik Classen with associated more than 90 acres of land. Area
was later expanded on the condition that the two contractors would
build a gunpowder plant. In 1758, the first powder was produced at
the plant, which was named Frederiksværk. To provide hydropower for
this industry, the canal that bends north from the river that
carries the water from Arresø to Roskilde Fjord was excavated. At
the entrance to the gunpowder plant, the canal was bent to the west
and continued until it emptied into the fjord; at the bend, a
bulwark with a lock was built, so that the water could be led, and
stamp and core mills built on the site. In addition, the two
companions set up a cannon foundry and were thus able to supply both
gunpowder and cannons to the army during the current and dangerous
Prussian Seven Years' War, which is why they were strongly favored
by the state.
Fabricius resigned from the company in 1760, after which the work
became real state property with the king's purchase of Frederiksværk for
130,000 reigs. But the absolute majesty let Classen continue to manage
it by both retaining the inspection and, as it was said, "that he must
therefore, at his own pleasure, peel and roll as he pleases". Finally,
after an unsuccessful attempt to get Frederiksværk (along with the
Kronborg Geværfabrik) free of charge, Classen became the sole owner of
the works for a purchase price of 100,000 reigsdalers. Favorable
commercial conditions, especially during the War of North American
Independence, and great hospitality on the part of the king, enabled
Classen to accomplish much, so that not only his factories flourished,
but the whole place and region prospered; with success he had the entire
sandy terrain planted, which not only provided enough wood for the
gunpowder mills, but also provided shelter for the city. He also seemed
to be a keen farmer: He owned large tracts of land around the city. The
farm estate, which he acquired in 1768, amounted to 798 acres of hard
grain. Here he received permission to establish the main farms Arresødal
and Grønnessegård.
A central part of the cannon was the Goat
House. This cast house was built in two stages. The north wing was
completed in 1764, while the three-winged industrial building was
completed in 1769. The goat house still exists; after a period of severe
decay in the latter half of the 20th century, Gjethuset and the area
around it were restored in a large-scale construction project at the
beginning of the 1990s and serve today as a cultural center.
After Classen's death at Arresødal on 24 March 1792, according to a
provision in his will, Frederiksværk's establishment with buildings and
machinery as well as the two estates Arresødal and Grønnessegård were
handed over to Landgrave Carl of Hesse, in return for the latter paying
7,000 reigsdalers annually to that of Classen by will established
fideicommis. In 1804, Landgrave Frederiksværk, whose debt had grown so
that it exceeded the value of the property, transferred the estates to
his son-in-law, Crown Prince Frederik (later Frederik VI). The crown
prince set up his own administration until the properties could
completely become state property after the release of the co-heirs.
These negotiations continued throughout Frederik VI's reign and were
only completed at the beginning of Christian VIII's (1840).
In
1833 cannon production stopped. It is estimated that a total of between
2,500 and 2,600 guns were produced in Frederiksværk.
In the middle of the 19th century, Frederiksværk is described as
a factory town with an iron foundry (90 workers), a machine factory
(60 workers), a knife factory with a grinding mill (57 workers), a
gunpowder factory (27 workers) and a copper rolling mill (24
workers) as well as several smaller private enterprises from
breweries to a "forge for arable implements" as well as a few
privileged trading companies.
In 1850, Frederiksværk was
given the status of a trading post. Despite this, the contemporary
J.P. Trap skeptical about the place's trade potential. In the first
edition of his statistical-topographical description of Denmark, he
wrote: "Whether Frederiksværk, when the second aforementioned
merchant rights were to be lifted by the death of the holders or by
replacement, would be able to rise as a place of trade under freer
competition is considered doubtful".
The property is sold for
freehold
According to the law of 8 April 1851, the estate was
sold as freehold in 1854-55, Arresødal was sold in 1855,
Grønessegård in 1859.
According to the law of 4 May 1856, in 1857 the factories were handed
over to factory owner Anker Heegaard, who took over them on 1 January
1858 and ran them as a machine factory, iron foundry and enamel
workshop, while the gunpowder works were preserved as state property and
passed to the land military administration.
The gunpowder factory
was later subordinated to the director of the artillery's technical
service and has been the army's main supplier right from its
construction. From 1884 it also supplied gunpowder to the navy. The
oldest gunpowder that was manufactured was stamp mill gunpowder. In
1862, the old stamping mills were closed down, and they switched to the
production of roller press gunpowder (laminate iron gunpowder). Later,
gunpowder was produced by hydraulic pressing, then prismatic gunpowder,
first black and later brown. The factory had almost exclusively supplied
all the brown powder that was used for loading even the kingdom's
heaviest coastal cannons. Finally, in 1891, they switched to the
manufacture of smokeless gunpowder. A remote department was set up in
Arresødal Forest by the lake, Sørups Vang, where individual operations
for the manufacture of the smokeless gunpowder took place. While the
actual manufacturing took place at the old gunpowder factory, where
several new buildings were therefore erected.
The gunpowder mills
were initially powered exclusively by water power. There were still
around 1900 three water wheels, one of which was a turbine. But when the
number of turbines was significantly increased, and when water power did
not catch on, steam power was also introduced.
Frederiksværk's
population increased in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There were 739
people living in the town in 1850, 708 in 1855, 764 in 1860, 915 in
1870, 839 in 1880, 1,098 in 1890, 1,431 in 1901, 1,664 in 1906 and 1,672
in 1911.
Of the 1,664 inhabitants of Frederiksværk in 1906, 129
made a living from non-material activities, 44 from agriculture,
forestry and dairying, 42 from fishing, 945 from crafts and industry,
269 from trade and more, 109 from transport, 82 were shopkeepers, 17
lived from public support and 27 from other or unspecified company.
Rail connection and market town rights
In 1897, the town got a
railway connection to Hillerød (the current HFHJ) and in 1916 to
Hundested.
In 1907, Frederiksværk received market town rights.
In the years between the wars, Frederiksværk's population was
growing: in 1921 the town had 2,022 citizens, in 1925 2,040, in 1930
2,061, in 1935 2,227, in 1940 2,248 inhabitants. At the same time, the
suburbs Åsebro, Enghaverne and Vinderød Skov as well as Strandvejen,
Bjørnehoved and Hvide Klint in Kregme-Vinderød Municipality grew, where
people who worked in Frederiksværk settled down.
At the census in
1930, Frederiksværk had 2,061 inhabitants. Of these, 162 supported
themselves by non-material activity, 899 by craft and industry, 331 by
trade, 144 by transport, 71 by agriculture, forestry and fishing, 145 by
housework, 256 were out of business, and 53 had not stated their source
of income.
1940-42 "Det danske Staalvalseværk" (DDS) was built, for which
Frederiksværk is probably best known. Although it was established in the
middle of World War II, it succeeded in establishing a Danish
manufacture of steel based on scrap metal. The company was for many
years an important and reliable supplier to Danish industry. The steel
rolling mill in Frederiksværk has part of the credit for the success of
the Danish shipyards and machine factories.
Although there had
previously been industry in Frederiksværk, it was only with the Steel
Rolling Mill that the town really grew. While there were 2,227
inhabitants in Frederiksværk in 1935, the figure had risen to 4,538 in
the municipality in 1965.
The steel rolling mill went bankrupt
and closed in the spring of 2002. The industrial facilities were later
reopened with new owners such as DanSteel A/S, while the electric steel
mill remained closed. The electric steel plant was bought by Vorskla
Steel in August 2007.[18] Production resumed in February 2008, but after
half a year of production and another year on the brink of financial
collapse, the company declared bankruptcy on August 15, 2009.
After the Second World War, Frederiksværk continued its population growth. In 1945 there were 3,557 inhabitants in the market town, in 1950 4,143, in 1955 5,213, in 1960 5,722 and in 1965 6,805. The largest urban development took place in the suburban municipality of Kregme-Vinderød Municipality.
In 1964, the gunpowder factory, which was now called "Hærens
Krudtværk", was closed down. It was taken over by a private company
before being converted into a museum under the Tøjhusmuseet in 1969. The
operation of the Gunpowder Museum was transferred in 1993 to the
Frederiksværkegnens Museum. Later, the city's museums were reorganized
so that the Krudtværket is now part of the Industrial Museum Frederiks
Værk.
In 2007, Frederiksværk was designated as a national
industrial monument by the Danish Cultural Heritage Agency.
Alex Nyborg Madsen, radio host.
Anton Frederik Tscherning, former
Minister of War.
Anders Thomas Jensen, film director/screenwriter.
Bill Holmberg, choreographer.
Benny Nielsen, former national team
player.
Hanne Boel, singer.
Kim Christensen, former football
player in Lyngby and Brøndby.
Lotte Hammer, author.
Poul Frode
Wilspang, freedom fighter.
Susan Olsen, actress.
Stein Bagger,
former director of IT Factory and convicted fraudster.
Søren Hammer,
author.
Thomas Frank, former head coach at football club Brøndby.
Kirsten Ebbensgaard, mayor of Frederiksværk Municipality for the
"Conservative People's Party" from 1982 to 1986 and county mayor for the
same party from 1990 to 1997.