Documentation center and archive
Blaafarveværket's documentation centre was established in 1994. Our extensive archive is located here. The museum's administration is also located here.
The archive
As an industrial museum, Blaafarveværket aims to research and publicise industrial history. The archive consists of the National Archives' Private Archive no. 157, Modum's Blaafarveværk. There are 536 archive boxes corresponding to approximately 500,000 pages. The archive material has been made available and systematised with an archive key through the work at our documentation centre. Measured in scope, the business and operational accounts make up the majority with 45 %. But we also find a lot of correspondence - about 30 %. These are incoming and outgoing letters, both internal and external. We find letters about production processes, working conditions, internal disputes, dismissals and hiring of workers.
At the start of our work in the archives, we got an overview of the connection between the documents. We did this by choosing 1836 as an in-depth year. This year had good document coverage, where most document types were represented. We were able to follow the flow of information - from "uge-berigt" (the ladders' weekly reports to the mine manager), via "schigt-regnskap" (the mine manager's monthly reports to the director) and on to "hovedbok", which was the company's financial accounts.
The aim was to computerise as many of the individual documents as possible. In our treatment of the history of the industrial company, we have focused on the private large-scale operation period 1822-48. The documentation relates directly to operations and society as a whole. During these years, Blaafarveværket is characterised by rapid development and growth towards the 1840s.
The digital archive
Large parts of the material from the period 1822-1849 have been microfilmed. The National Archives has scanned the microfilms. You can find Blaafarveværket's private archive at the National Archives at The digital archive.
Public Engagement
The written material and the physical industrial artefacts are important sources for acquiring knowledge about the advanced technical and chemical processes, and for understanding details in the archive material.
The knowledge from the archive disseminated to the public via guided tours, lectures and publications. The public is given the opportunity to read the transcribed archive material that is available in the various museum buildings.
Ongoing research
In connection with the constitutional anniversary in 2014, historian and writer Ingerid Hagen set out to investigate the significance of Modum Blaafarveværk for the Norwegian economy in the years after 1814. The research project was linked to the 1814 project at the University of Oslo. The work resulted in the publication of a book in connection with the anniversary celebrations in 2014. This was the first volume in a series. Volume two was published in 2022.
Publications
David Eberhard Bradt - Short description of the Royal Modum Blue Colour Works in Buskerud County 1781, 1966
Karl Friedrich Böbert - About the Modum blue dye works in Norway (1847), 1978
Knut Jordheim - Skolen, yearbook for Norwegian school history 1987
Leif Hellerud - People and settlements around Skuterudåsen, 1993
Tone Sinding Steinsvik: "Koboltgruvene og blaafarveværket- en del av den store verden", 2000.
Kjell Arnljot Wig: "The adventure of Blaafarveværket", 1995.
Thorvald Lindemann: "Modum's Blaafarveværk - a contribution to its history" 1993.
The mining network
- National network for museums with mining as an area of interest
Blaafarveværket is a member of Bergverksnettverket, which was founded on 19 September 2003. The Norwegian Mining Museum is the main responsible museum. Bergverksnettverket is a collaborative forum whose main objectives are to improve expertise in key museum and cultural conservation tasks such as the preservation, registration, documentation and dissemination of mining.
The mining network organises an annual seminar, last hosted by Blaafarveværket in 2009. The topics in the series of lectures were about management, research, dissemination and renewal.