History of Teijo National Park

The iron works of Teijo form a part of the atmosphere in the National Park

On the shore of Halikonlahti Bay, just a few kilometres away from each other, are located three old iron foundries: Kirjakkala, Teijo and Mathildedal. They form a coherent cultural-historical site where the different periods of iron production in Finland can be seen. The foundry of Teijo is one of the very few foundries which still carries on metal industry. In addition to a dockyard and a machine shop, there are several small enterprises in the old factory buildings of Teijo.

The old foundry buildings in Kirjakkala have been carefully renovated so that the area offers visitors an excellent picture of the blooming period of the iron works near the National Park. Today you can stay overnight and organise meetings in the ironworks area (www.ruukkikyla.fi).

Manor Culture Brought along by the Foundries

Industry started in Teijo already in 1686. The years of crop failure in the end of 1600s, and the Great Northern War ("the Great Hate") in the beginning of 1720s slowed down the development of the iron production, and some of the foundry buildings were distroyed in the war. Rebuilding the foundry begun in 1729 by the new owner, Klaus Fleming. He built a powerhammer, an ore mill, houses for the workers, and other buildings. A new dam was built to regulate the water in Lake Sahajärvi. Jaokob Kijk, who owned the foundries of Teijo and Kirjakkala in the 1770s, built a rococo style manor in the centre of the area.

Factory Owners as the Local Men of Power

• When Robert Bremen owned the foundry of Teijo, not many technical developments were made. His most impressive achievement was the church of the foundry, which was completed in 1830. Bremen built it because he was so grateful that the Deluge did not come when he expected it to, according to his calculations.

• The blooming period of the foundry community was during the ownership of Viktor Zebor Bremer in 1844 - 58. He improved the charcoal supply and also built charcoal furnaces in Teijo. The production was made more efficient, and new buildings, including a calcining kiln, a mill, an office building and a rectory, were built. To improve communications, Viktor Zebor Bremer constructed an open canal in Strömma in 1844.

• The last real captain of the industry was Carl August Carlborg, who owned the foundry in 1906 - 1915. Ploughs and rakes were then manufactured in Teijo. Mathildedal was producing, for example, steam engines and threshing machines, and buttons were made in Kirjakkala. In 1908, the fire in the blast furnace of Teijo went out, after having illuminated the surroundings for a more than 220 years with its eerie light.

• In the end of 1900s, the owners of Teijo have changed several times. The most remarkable additions to the landscape have been the new industrial buildings built by Wihuri Group which owned the estate in 1957 - 78.