Our company has existed since 1655 under various names. The longest time as Ankarsrums Works, so in Swedish we call it “Bruket”. The location rests on iron, forest and hydropower. Around Ankarsrum there are big findings of ferrous sand (magnetic) which can be used to produce iron.
In those days Sweden wanted to be a great power, for better or worse, and waged war all over the Baltic Sea. Mercenaries and munitions cost a lot of money, and it was the iron that would pay. Therefore, Walloons with capital and knowledge had been encouraged to move to Sweden. The Walloons was offered to lease the area from the landowner Gabriel Gyllenankar, and in his honor they called the place Ankarsrum. Thus, both “Bruket” and the town got its name in 1655.
The Walloons who founded Ankarsrum and their successors had much to disagree about. They soon ran into money shortages and more or less fled the country. In 1680, Hans Andersson, only 24 years old, became the sole owner of “Bruket”. He transformed the Ankarsrum business model from producing commodity iron to the development and manufacturing of high-quality cannons for the Swedish crown.
