Vira bruk is a village and an historic iron works in Österåker in Sweden. Vira bruk was founded around 1630 by Clas Fleming. On the basis on a monopoly granted by a royal privilege it manufactured most of the rapiers and

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s for the Swedish army into the mid 19th Century. Vira bruk was owned by the

Fleming family Fleming may refer to: Places Australia * Fleming, Northern Territory, a town and a locality Canada * Fleming, Saskatchewan * Fleming Island (Saskatchewan) Egypt * Fleming (neighborhood), a neighborhood in Alexandria Greenland * Fleming Fjor ...

until 1757, when it was sold to

Reinhold Angerstein Reinhold Rücker Angerstein (October 25, 1718, at Vikmanshyttan – January 5, 1760, in Stockholm) was a Swedish metallurgist, civil servant and entrepreneur. Angerstein was a member of an old family of Swedish Iron Masters, of German descent ...

, who at that time was an official of the Swedish Board of Mines. Angerstein planned for extension of the manufacturing, but died in 1760 before they could be realized. The works then were taken over by his brother-in-law, the archbishop

Samuel Troilius Samuel Troilius (22 May 1706 – 18 January 1764) was Archbishop of Uppsala from 1758 to his death. Biography He was born in Stora Skedvi parish in the province of Dalarna. His parents were Olof Troilius and Helena Gangia. His father was a v ...

. The royal privilege lasted until 1775, but the

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

continued to supply weapons to the Swedish armed forces into the 19th Century and later manufactured civilian products, such as axes and scythes, into the mid-20th Century. Vira bruk is now a museum.

References

*Alf Nordström: Vira klingsmedja och liebruk, Stiftelsen Stockholms läns museum and Stiftelsen Vira Bruk, Uddevalla 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vira Bruk Defunct companies of Sweden Weapon history