The Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill ( no, Kistefos Træsliberi) is a former
pulp mill
A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ful ...
and
hydroelectric power plant in
Jevnaker,
Norway. It was founded by
Kistefos at the river
Randselva in 1889.
History
The mill was founded on June 27, 1889 by councilor
Anders Sveaas
Anders Sveaas (November 27 1840 – August 24 1917) was a Norway, Norwegian businessperson and consulate. He was the founder of the Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill in Jevnaker, Norway.
Biography
Anders Sveaas was born on November 27th, 1840 on the Haug ...
and was in operation from the following year until 1955 when an agreement was made with
Follum Fabrikker
Norske Skog Follum is a paper mill located in Follum in Norway. The mill is part of the Norske Skog Corporation and opened in 1873 with the name Follum Fabrikker (also Follum træsliberi). It has three paper machines and produces 410,000 tonnes o ...
(now Norske Skog Follum) who took over the operation. Kistefos agreed to deliver power and lumber to the plant at Follum, being paid market price and a premium for the processing. After an internal disagreement in the family the company was sold to the neighbor company Viul Tresliperi in 1983, but was bought back by
Christen Sveaas Christen Sveaas (born 18 June 1956) is a Norwegian businessman, investor, art collector and donor. He is the founder and sole owner of Kistefos AS, vice chairman of the board of the Kistefos Museum and chairman of the board of Anders Sveaas Allmenny ...
in 1993 and transformed into the
holding company Kistefos.
Operation
At the plant
pulp was created by hydraulic pressure transferred from turbines. Kistefos was early with electricity, and both the factory and the housing was supplied with it. The power came directly from the
water fall
A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf.
Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...
and was transformed mechanically. After the closing of the factory the fall was converted to a hydroelectric power plant. The lumber came mill owned forests in
Land, pulled across
Randsfjorden and floated down Randselva to Kistefoss.
Museum
In 1991, the power plant was sold to the municipal power company Viul Kraft. In 1995, 85% of the company was sold to Christen Sveaas, the grandson of Anders Sveaas, with the objective to create an industrial museum and a
contemporary sculpture park. The museum opened in 1996 as the Kistefos Museet and underwent major renovation works in the following years, thanks to donations by the Jevnaker municipality and by Sveaas.
In September 2015, the museum unveiled an expansion project designed by the architectural firm
Bjarke Ingels Group
Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers and builders operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development. The office is currently involved in a ...
.
The mill was added to the list of priority
technical and industrial cultural heritage by the
Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( no, Riksantikvaren or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environm ...
.
References
External links
Official site(Norwegian)
{{Authority control
Jevnaker