My favourite place on earth: Finland

The small village of Fagervik

Located about an hour away by car from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, in the midst of lush vegetation and ancient trees, Fagervik is well worth a visit. Nowhere else in Finland can such a complete 18th century milieu be found.

The village of Fagervik started out as iron works were founded in 1646 by a Swede named Carl Billsten. The iron works consisted of two iron forges and one blast furnace. There were some cottages but no manor house. Today there are no buildings left from Billsten's era.At the end of the 17th century war and the plague reduced the population in the region almost by half, and there was a shortage of wood as well. As a result of these factors combined the production of iron ceased and Fagervik fell into ruins at the turn of the century.

In 1723 two Swedish brothers named Johan Wilhelm and Michael Hising bought the estate along with its industrial rights. They rebuilt the iron works quickly, and in the mid 1720's Fagervik had two new iron forges and a blast furnace producing iron that was shipped over to Sweden. Most of the blacksmiths were skilled workers brought from Germany. The blacksmiths held a high social status within the community, but their work was hard, working in three shifts with the huge forge hammers thumping loudly 24 hours a day. With them the German blacksmiths also brought the potato, which was unknown in Finland at that time. Finland's first potatoes were grown in Fagervik.


Michael's son Johan Hisinger represented the next generation in Fagervik. His was a grand era, Fagervik obtained the sole right in Scandinavia for the production of Fagervik's speciality, tin-plated iron. This product brought Fagervik wealth and the mansion, planned by C F Schröder, was built in 1773 and the vast French garden began to take form.


Johan's son Mikael Hisinger followed in his father's footsteps in 1790. During his time many greenhouses, holding exotic flowers and plants such as lemons, grapes, orchids, mulberry trees, were built. A Chinese pavillion, the large stables and most of the cottages are from his era as well.


The winter garden, the Orangeria, was built in 1844, by Mikael's son Fridolf. He was interested in agriculture and gardening and worked with the breeding of many new plants and trees that he imported to Finland. Fridolf also foresaw the inevitable decline of the iron industry in southern Finland. As Finland became part of Russia in 1809, the markets for iron had shrunk due to regulations and a weak currency. Furthermore, new technology made the large waterfalls in mid-Finland more effective than Fagervik's rather small power supply.

During his successor Eduard's era, the iron works were closed down in 1903 and agriculture became the major source of income for Fagervik. A structural development that the owners had seen coming and thus were prepared for. Today, Fagervik Estate is a modern production unit within forestry and agriculture, employing five persons. The present owners of Fagervik are Eduard's great-great-grandchildren and descendants in 9th generation of the same family.