Blaafarveværket, or the Blue Colour Works, was a mining and industrial company located at Åmot in Modum in Buskerud, Norway, which existed from 1776 to 1898. Værket is idyllically located at the foot of Haugfossen. The Cobalt Mines are 8 km away.
BLAAFARVEVÆRKET
The Glass Works itself currently form the heart of Blaafarveværket Museum. This is where the annual art exhibitions are held, as well as the permanent exhibition “From Cobalt Ore to Blue Pigment” in the Glass Works. The Children´s Farm is also located here, along with the Bødtker Cafes (Old Coopers´ Inns) where you can enjoy a meal, and the Mill which houses The Blue Shop (souvenirs). In the Wheel House there is an exhibition about the history of Blaafarveværket. There is a bathing spot and a large park with tables and benches along the bank of the Simoa river, and the Tourist Information Office for Modum, Sigdal and Eggedal is also at the Works.
NYMOEN
Nymoen number 9 is Blaafarveværkets museum of social history. The exhibition shows how skilled workers lived, what they ate and how they spent their free time. It also describes the social welfare schemes that Blaafarveværket organised during its most successful period, including sick pay, a poor relief fund, pension scheme and so on. The standard was very high for its time. There are two exhibitions in the outhouses at Nymoen number 9 that show how craftsmen worked: there is a chairmaker´s shop and a shoemaker´s shop, complete with tools.
HAUGFOSS
Blaafarveværkets old general stores and inn, both steeped in tradition, are at Haugfosstråkka (the open area near Haugfoss) close to the magnificent Haugfossen waterfall. The 300-year old general stores offer an enormously varied range of goods, including freshly-ground coffee, old-fashioned sweets, wooden ladles and leather bags. There is also a jewellery shop here, selling baskets, wrought iron and fine jewellery made from different minerals.
The Thranestua is Blaafarveværkets inviting coffee house and pastry shop. In good weather you can take your cake and coffee out on to the terrace and enjoy watching and listening to the magnificent waterfall. A delightful spot for a rest between the different exhibitions, and a good place to stop on the way to Eggedal and Norefjell.
THE THEODOR KITTELSEN MUSEUM
The Th. Kittelsen Museum provides a home for the largest collection of works by Norways national artist. This is where you can see his paintings of trolls, folk tales and the Norwegian landscape, in which you can often catch a glint of Kittelsens marvellous sense of humour. Who doesn´t know about the Norwegian trolls, water sprites (nøkker) and gnomes (nisser)? Our national artist Theodor Kittelsen´s interpretations of the Norwegian landscape have become symbolic of Norwegian folk mythology and of what is regarded as typically Norwegian.
Kittelsen created with his landscapes a style and mood that speak directly to thousands of people. The national Theodor Kittelsen Museum at Blaafarveværket is located up on the Skuterudhøyden ridge near the Cobalt Mines. Theodor Kittelsen´s wonderful interpretations of nature, forests, mountains and troll legends are displayed in many different media: carved furniture, oil paintings, watercolours and drawings. Some of his writing is included in the exhibition, as well as his illustrations to Asbjørnsen and Moe´s famous and much-loved collections of Folk Tales.
THE COBALT MINES
The Cobalt Mines on the ridge of Skuterudåsen stretch three kilometres from north to south. Visitors can walk along the side of enormous open-cast mines in a remarkable man-made landscape. They can also take a guided tour into the mines and experience the special atmosphere of tunnels and chambers inside the mountain. The small museums in the mining area give visitors an insight into the working methods and tools used by the miners, and archive material from Blaafarveværket provides information about wages, welfare schemes etc..
There is also a school museum here, with a display about the three schools operated by the Glass Works. The Cobalt Mines themselves are surrounded by a beautiful but bewitching landscape, reminiscent of Kittelsen´s pictures!