Hälleforsnäs is a locality in
Flen Municipality
Flen Municipality (''Flens kommun'') is a municipality in central Södermanland County in southeast Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Flen.
The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of the ''City of Flen'' (ins ...
,
Södermanland County
Södermanland County ( sv, Södermanlands län) is a county or '' län'' on the southeast coast of Sweden. In the local Sörmlandic dialects it is virtually universally shortened and pronounced as Sörmlands län, or simply Sörmland, which is t ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
with approximately 2000 inhabitants in 2020.
A small village in the municipality of Flen, it is 15 km (9 miles) from
Flen
Flen (local pronunciation ''Flén'') is a locality and the seat of Flen Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 6,229 inhabitants in 2010.
Flen evolved as a railway junction and got the title of a city in 1949. Since 1971 it is the seat of ...
, 32 km (20 miles) from
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna has ...
, 40 km (25 miles) from
Katrineholm
Katrineholm (pronunciation: or ) is a locality and the seat of Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 24,271 inhabitants in 2018. It is located in the inland of Södermanland and is the third largest urban area in the county ...
and 120 km (75 mi) south-west of
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
.
This village was an industrial center until the
foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...
it was built around ceased operations after 350 years in the early 1990s. The foundry is now a cultural center and a hub of activity.
Beginning in the 17th century, the foundry functioned as a cannon workshop. Here, cannons were manufactured for the Swedish army in Europe. The foundry switched from producing military products to civilian radiators and stoves at the beginning of the 20th century. Between 1920 and 1980, pipes and other plumbing supplies were the company's primary products.
In the 1960s, when the foundry was at its peak, more than a thousand people worked there, as well as a few hundred in related occupations nearby.
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool.
Electrolux products sell under a variety ...
acquired the foundry in the 1980s and began manufacturing cookware plates. In 1990, Electrolux ceased operations, and several employees acquired the foundry. The area surrounding the foundry is still active, but less so than when it served as the village's focal point.
Today, the actual foundry serves as a center for local artists, and Hälleforsnäs has become the cultural heart of
Sörmland. Both a restaurant and a seasonal herbal store are present. Moreover, the Jürss dairy company manufactures and sells award-winning cheese on-site.
Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
elections
Due to its industrialization, Hälleforsnäs has always been a stronghold for the
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Party, formally the Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party ( sv, Sveriges socialdemokratiska arbetareparti ; S/SAP), usually referred to as The Social Democrats ( sv, link=no, Socialdemokraterna ), is a social-d ...
. Since it has always been Flen Municipality's most left-leaning district, it has contributed to large majorities throughout the municipality. With fewer people living in Hälleforsnäs, fewer people voting, and more people migrating to cities in Swedish industrial areas at the end of the 20th century, the number of votes cast there has significantly decreased. The vote share of the Social Democrats in the village decreased by 29 percentage points between 1994 and 2018, while the vote share of the
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...
grew rapidly.
References
External links
* https://jurssmejeri.se/ Jurss Dairy
* https://www.axellent.se/halleforsnas-bruksrestaurangen-galleri Bruksrestaurangen
Populated places in Södermanland County
Populated places in Flen Municipality
{{Södermanland-geo-stub