Hällefors Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
fullname=Hällefors kommun


county=Örebro County
province=Västmanland
capital=Hällefors


arearank=102nd
area=1,157.23
arealand=989.80
populationrank=246th
population=7,475
densityrank=242nd
populationdensity=7.55
website=http://www.hallefors.se/
footnotes=Area & population from SCB as of December 31, 2007

Hällefors Municipality ("Hällefors kommun") is a municipality in Örebro County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Hällefors.

The amalgamations connected with the 1971 municipal reform took place already in 1967 when "old" Hällefors was amalgamated with Grythyttan and the parish of Hjulsjö, which 1965-1966 temporarily had been in Nora Municipality.

The municipality has a beautiful nature with many different activities. Hiking on trails or in nature reserves, fishing or canoeing in more than 400 lakes and waterways or biking on roads through deep forests.

Localities

*Hammarn
*Hällefors (seat)
*Grythyttan

History

The area has traditionally been a mining district.

Industry

Hellefors Works Co, Ltd (Hellefors Bruks Aktiebolag), a branch of Wargöns Aktiebolag, is one of the largest corporations in the middle of Sweden. It produces iron and steel, mechanical wood pulp, sulfite and sulfate pulp, sawn timber, joinery and box boards. It mines, for its own requirements and for sale, ore from its own iron ore fields. At a large number of its own power stations, situated on the "Black Creek" (Svartån) and its tributaries, the company produces electrical energy which is widely distributed to its own works and outside customers. The company also grows timber on a large scale, and an extensive private railway system runs right through the company's forests which cover several hundred thousand acres in the parishes of Grythyttan and Hellefors in Örebro County, the parish of Gåsborn in Värmland County and the parishes of Järna, Äppelbo and Säfsnäs in Dalarna County. This railway connects the different industrial centres, placing them in direct communication with the railway systems of the country and, in combination with the water ways, facilitating scientific forestry. As a result of the present high prices on fuel, these cheap methods of transport make it possible to utilize all waste timber which has now to a great extent replaced the fuel that was formerly imported. The general management is at Hällefors, where the company has erected ironworks, a wood-grinding mill, a sawmill, a box factory and joinery works. Sulphite and sulphate pulp is manufactured at Fredriksberg, which is under the Gravendal management.

The small town Loka is located in Hällefors Municipality. They are bottling mineral water from their well, that once housed a thermal bath. The water is sold in almost any store in Sweden, including Systembolaget.

Twin towns

Hällefors four twin towns with the year of its establishing:

#(1978) Pohja (Pojo), Finland flagicon|Finland
#(1992) Lüchow, Germany flagicon|Germany
#(2001) Orkdal, Norway flagicon|Norway
#(2003) Jelgava, Latvia flagicon|Latvia

External links

* [http://www.hallefors.se Hällefors Municipality] - Official site
* [http://www.helleforsherrgard.se Hällefors Herrgård] - Hellefors Country Manor