Our History

Our History

One of Sweden’s oldest industrial companies

1653 Gusums Bruk was founded in Gusum and is today one of Sweden’s oldest industrial companies.

It was the Walloon Henrik de Try (who had previously worked at Louis de Geer’s brass mill in Norrköping) and his brother‑in‑law Hubert de Besche who laid the foundation when they purchased the tax farm Gusum. They established an ironworks with a blast furnace to cast cannons.

With the establishment of Gusums Bruk, the local economy changed radically. The mill became the center of the area, and within a radius of twenty kilometers, a large number of farmers came to perform services for the mill, such as charcoal burning, firewood cutting, transport, and day labor.

1661 an additional brass mill with a wire workshop was established. The main production consisted of brass wire, as well as various items made from hammered brass.

1684, the mill consisted of three melting huts with twelve furnaces, two wire workshops with 26 wire benches, an annealing furnace, a pan house, a rolling mill, a calamine mill, and a hammer forge where tools were manufactured.

At this time, Gusum was the third brass mill in the country, after Norrköping and Nyköping.

1707 production of buttons, buckles, and other small brass items was started, and 1742 also the production of pins.

1752 the production of cutlery also began, after the mill had obtained a privilege for fine knife and edged‑tool forging.

The production took place at two locations along the Gusum River and expanded to 150 different knife models, such as shoemakers’ knives, razors, folding knives, and penknives. Steel and silver for these were purchased from other domestic mills or imported.

In 1810, a weaving workshop for iron and brass mesh was established.

The products were shipped via the port of Valdemarsvik with the mill’s own vessels to both domestic and foreign markets.

Ett företag i ständig utveckling

1821 a bar‑iron hammer and a hardening furnace were built, and in the manufacturing forge a wide range of items were produced, such as nails, ploughs, spade blades, horseshoes, scythes, and anchor chains.

1867 industrialization reached Gusum when a new, larger pin factory was constructed as pin‑making machines replaced the previously highly manual production.

In addition, window shutters and brass screens made of metal mesh were manufactured.

1860 production was shifted toward more mechanized operations.

1837 Brass wire was manufactured in 25 different thicknesses, and of the total brass casting, 31% went to pins, which at this time were produced in around 30 varieties.

Mid‑1900s production of pins and other small items faced strong competition from abroad. The number of employees reached nearly 500 people in Gusum, and to strengthen the company, efforts were instead directed toward the production of metal semifinished products.

1931 production of Gusum’s most famous product began — the zipper.

1960 and onwards major investments were made in a new facility at Gräsdalen outside the community, for a new foundry and for the production of tubes for the expanding Swedish construction market. Operations were concentrated on the manufacturing of metal, tubes, wire, and zippers.

1900–the 20th century was a period when a wide range of items were manufactured, such as wire products, candlesticks, wall lamps, and more.

1966 the mill was moved from the central parts of Gusum up to Gräsdalen, where operations are still conducted today. Ingots, rods, and nuts in brass were produced, but the largest product at this time was copper tubing.

2003 the copper tube production was sold to Belgium, while the company merged with Hexagon Nordic Brass. The brass production located in Västerås was also moved to Gusum.

2021 the company was acquired by Lazarus Industriförvaltning AB and it was also then that the product range was expanded through an investment in a hot‑press.