Moss Jernverk ("Moss Ironworks") was an ironwork in Moss, Norway. Established in 1704, it was for many years the largest workplace in the city, and melted ore, chiefly from Arendalsfeltet (a geologic province in Norway). With power from the nearby waterfalls it manufactured many different products. From around the middle of the 18th century, the works were the leading armory in the country and produced hundreds of heavy iron cannons. The first rolling mill in Norway was also located here. Amongst Moss Jernverk's owners were many of Norway's best-known businessmen, including Bernt Anker and Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg. Under Anker's management it became a much visited attraction for early travellers to Norway. The administration building is best known for being the site where the Convention of Moss was negotiated in August 1814. In the middle of the 19th century Moss Ironworks met increased competition from Swedish and English ironworks; consequently it closed down in 1873. It was sold for 115,000 speciedaler in 1875 and the area was taken over by the company M. Peterson & Søn, which used it until it went bankrupt in 2012.
Background and establishment
Iron has been extracted and processed in what today is known as Norway for over two thousand years. The first iron producers used Bog iron, which then was processed by what Norwegians know as "jernvinne". Such production of iron was however local and on a small scale – much effort was needed to extract small quantities of iron. In the 16th century the interest for excavating ore grew in Europe and the foundation for modern knowledge of mineralogy was established by the German Georgius Agricola. In the kingdom of Denmark-Norway iron ore was found in the Norwegian part of the country. In the southern part of Norway the richest deposits were in the Arendalsfeltet around the city of Arendal; however, owing to the need for large amounts of wood to produce charcoal for the blast furnace and power from water falls for powering the bellows, ironworks were often established at other places than close to the iron ore mines. By the city of Moss there was easy access to power from waterfalls; there were large woods in the vicinity and the location by the Oslofjord made receiving ore and shipping out the various produced goods easy. The Danish civil servant and businessman Ernst Ulrich Dose started in 1704 with establishing an ironwork at Moss, and in the same year the Dano-Norwegian king Frederick IV visited Moss twice, events that were positive for Dose's undertakings. In addition to buying land and claiming rights to power from the waterfalls and access iron ore, the projected ironworks received "cirkumferens", an area with a radius of around 25 kilometer where the farmers had to produce and deliver charcoal and other raw material to the ironworks. In November 1704 Moss and its surroundings were inspected by experts from the oberbergamt (the state authority responsible for mines and minerals) in Kongsberg and a letter of privilege was issued on 6 December that year. In the letter various privileges were stated; for the surrounding woods, area for the ironworks, water, access by road, iron ore, freedom from customs and several other points. Workers were exempted from taxes and military service; they were to be tried by "bergretten" (a special court for miners, residing in Kongsberg), and if needed skilled workers could be recruited from abroad, regardless of what nation they belonged to. By its extensive royal privileges Moss Ironworks, when it was established, was close to being a state within the state. Dying in 1706, the prosperous Ernst Ulrich Dose did not live to see Moss Ironworks in full operation.
First years and war
After Ernst Ulrich Dose's death Moss Jernverk was auctioned off and in May 1708 sold to Jacob von Hübsch (3/4) and Henrich Ochsen (1/4). The timing was good, war was close and the ironworks was close to the three large fortresses in the south-eastern part of Norway: Akershus, Fredrikstad and Fredriksten. Hübsch stated in 1713 that he bought the unfinished ironworks to supply the armed forces with cannons, ammunition and rifles. War broke out in 1709 and in 1711 there was an attack into Sweden, supplied by Moss Jernverk with ammunition, cannonballs in iron. The campaign was short, without any use of ammunition and Hübsch had severe difficulties with the payment. One of the privileges Moss Jernverk received when it was established was exemption from Tithe for three years after the blast furnace was in continuous use. The work to re-establish the tithing was commissioned at Kongsberg in 1712 by the generalkrigskommissær H. C. von Platen (the civil servant responsible for defence matters), but owing to lack of charcoal the blast furnace was only working for shorter periods. The local farmers were bound to supply 4733 lester (one lest was around 2 m³) charcoal every year, but in 1714 the ironworks lacked 24,600 lester. The duty to deliver charcoal was quite clearly an extra tax and the farmers tried to avoid it. Owing to the initial production problems the ironworks was given the exemption until 1715. At the latter stage of the Great Northern War Norway was invaded in 1716; the city of Moss and the ironworks were taken by Swedish forces on 17 March. On 26 March the Swedish forces were expelled, but the day after the Swedes again took possession of the city and held it for five weeks, and the ironworks was looted. The war years were difficult for the ironworks: in addition to looting the farmers were busy with transporting goods for the forces and had little time for producing and delivering charcoal. While the other Norwegian ironworks made good money from the war, Moss Jernverk and its main owner Hübsch fared badly. Owing to the various difficulties Hübsch petitioned the king for additional years with the exemption and was granted until 1722, from 1723 Moss Jernverk had to pay 300 riksdaler and from 1724 the same as other Norwegian ironworks, which amounted to 400 riksdaler each year.
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