Catharina "Karin" Bröms (1665–1735), was a Swedish

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

. She was the owner of the Wij iron works at

Ockelbo Ockelbo is a locality and the seat of Ockelbo Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 2,724 inhabitants in 2010. The name Ockelbo, spelled ''De oklabo'' in 1314, contains an old marine name ''*Ukle'', referring to modern-day Lake Bysjön. ...

between 1686 (formally 1708) and 1735. She founded and acquired additional iron works and eventually owned the larger part of Ockelbo and its parish. Bröms was a successful industrialist who managed to avoid the economic depression in the iron industry during the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

and became known as "Her Grace at Wij". Bröms was the daughter of

Sven Bröms Sven (in Danish and Norwegian, also Svend and also in Norwegian most commonly Svein) is a Scandinavian first name which is also used in the Low Countries and German-speaking countries. The name itself is Old Norse for "young man" or "young war ...

, founder of the Wij iron works at Ockelbo, and Catharina Helleday. She married first in 1680 to the noble Johan Silfverklou, who bought the iron works from her father in 1685. Upon his death in 1686, she became its owner, though it came to be formally owned by marriage to her second spouse,

Carolus Carlsson Carolus may refer to: People * Carolus (name) * the medieval Latin form of the name Charles **Charlemagne (742–814) * King Charles XII of Sweden, who is sometimes referred to as "Carolus Rex" Scientific * ''Carolus'' (plant), a genus of flo ...

, Bishop of Västerås. Upon the death of her second spouse in 1708, she formally became the owner of the iron works. Catharina Bröms came to manage the Ockelbo iron works from 1686 until her death. She was also the business partner of her sister Elisabeth "Lisa" Bröms, who was also active as an ironmaster. During the tenure of her spouse as bishop, Bröms and her sister were also involved in the affairs of appointments to local clerical offices. The local folksong »om biskop Karin, domprost Lisa och gubben själv» ('About Bishop Karin, Vicar Lisa and the old man himself') has been interpreted as criticism of the sister's involvement in such affairs.

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* Järnbrukens historia * Catharina Bröms - en järnlady i 1700-talets Sverige, av Jan Forsgren * Katarina Bröms Riksarkivet SBL Katarina Bröms, urn:sbl:17124, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon (art av B. BOETHIUS.), hämtad 2014-04-17.

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