Stories from the archive

We have a rich archive from which information can be retrieved down to a detailed level and you can follow the fates of individuals through a long life at Blaafarveværket and Koboltgruvene. Here you will find stories written by our museum educator Lasse Hermansen Bjørnland, who has used our archive together with other external sources.

Click on the links for the different stories, read and learn!

The House of Arsenic

Edison's electric car battery

Pancake Day

Blaafarveværket med plassen Pisserud i forkant. ca. 1900

The potash theft

Potash – flux, laundry detergent and... snuff?!

Henriette Wegner – Blaafarveværket's first «first lady»

The fathers at Blaafarveværket

The gardens at Fossum farm

Life in the sacker house

Blaafarveværket and alcohol

170 years since the major mining accident in the Cobalt Mines

Theft of blue colour and cobalt

Scarfing

Utsnitt av Gerckes foto 1860-årene foran Ludwig Eugen Stoll, Koboltgruvene.

Cobalt: a strategically important element - then and now

The paper, textile and starch industries - the blue colour industry's most important customer base?

Bergan crushed stone plant

The quartz fracture at Koboltgruvene

Blaafarveværket's school programme in the latter half of the 19th century

The offended doctor

The mines at Middagshvile

The creation of Modum Sparebank

In memory of 36 fallen miners

Ekstraretts case against Snarum Cobalt Works in 1846

The Christmas that was

The cobalt mine at Aaserud

Inspector Waitz - The blue colour factory's first inspector 

Death tastes sweet - Arsenic in sweets and confectionery

Utsnitt gammelt kart over Koboltgruvene

Geschvornerembetet at the Cobalt Mines

Utsnitt av Gerckes foto 1860-årene foran Ludwig Eugen Stoll, Koboltgruvene.

Blaafarveværket and municipal politics

Lighthouse lighting at Koboltgruvene 

The docks at Blaafarveværket - A deep dive into the history of the docks

A spooky 17th of May party

Nystekt vaffel på Koboltgruvene med Scheidehuset, et av gruvemuseene i bakgrunnen.

Blaafarveværkets waffles - a 217-year tradition

Fra Fossum hovedgård 1864 fotograf Gercke

Women's history at Blaafarveværket

Mother's Day special

Blaafarveværket med plassen Pisserud i forkant. ca. 1900

The blacksmith in the forge

Dronefoto Nordgruvene, Koboltgruvene

The weekly commuters at Koboltgruvene

Blaafarveværket, rundt bilde. ca. 1900

The plant's service staff

Koboltgruvene med Scheidehuset i fokus. Utsnitt av fotograf Gerckes bilde fra 1860-årene.

The ultimate consequence of school absence

Theodor Kittelsen, blakken og tungubben.

Jula, which was

Utenfor Ludwig Eugen Stoll. Fotograf Gerckes bilde fra 1860-årene.

Constantinsjakt and Ludwig Eugen stoll - Cobalt mining's most ambitious project

It's in the walls

The incredible story of "Postebruer'n"!

1 April - Blaafarveværket is 246 years old today

Women's Day 2022

The colour mill at Blaafarveværket

Oversiktsbilde Nymoen med Doktorgården i forkant. ca. 1900

The establishment of Blaafarveværket's health service 1776-1814

Born in the middle of nowhere

Oversiktsbilde Blaafarveværket. ca. 1900.

Water and coffee

Klokketårnet med bordhuset i bakkant. Ukjent årstall.

When the bells rang - The factory bells at Blaafarveværket

Election special

The labour movement at Blaafarveværket

The Haugians and the Blaafarve mill

Easter at Blaafarveværket

Oversikt Nymogaten. ca. 1900

Medical treatments in the 1830s

Dr Thaulow's yellow horse - the horses at Blaafarveværket

Skuterudflaten, ca. 1900.

The murder of Jens Andersen

Private jurisdiction - Blaafarveværket's own court

Gruvetråkka sett fra Mellomgruvene. Fotograf Gercke 1860-årene.

Blaafarveværket the year 1835-36

Gruvetråkka, Koboltgruvene. Fotograf Gercke 1860-årene.

Smalt production in Saxony in 1847

Vaccination at Blaafarveværket

Norway's second impeachment trial - The impeachment of Herman Wedel Jarlsberg

Boys will be boys - Card games, improper grazing and stealing rafts

A Christmas story from Blaafarveværket

Dagbrudd i mellomgruvene, Koboltgruvene. Fotograf Gercke 1860-årene.

The great mining accident of 1854

Fairytale of New York - A Christmas story from Blaafarveværket

Oversiktsbilde Blaafarveværket, tidlig 1900-tallet.

From Modum with love - Industrial pioneer Ole Henckel

Bennecke Stoll

Election fraud and fake news

Gruvearbeidere i Koboltgruvene. Fotograf Gercke, 1860-årene.

Halloween special

Gruvearbeidere i Koboltgruvene. Fotograf Gercke, 1860-årene.

Hand drilling in the Cobalt mines