WELCOME TO FINNSTIGEN

WELCOME TO FINNSTIGEN

WELCOME TO FINNSTIGEN

About Finnstigen

Finnstigen shows how the Forest-Finns in Bergslagen lived. You can follow them from the end of the 16th century until the beginning of the 20th century. The track will give you an accurate depiction of the Finnish habitation in the area. The track is 2 km (1.2 miles) long and contains 9 historical cultural expressions.

A Short History

Farmers in Finnish Savolax were offered new habitations in the forest-rich central Sweden in the mid-16th century. Thousands found their way here for reasons like wars, high taxation and worsening conditions for farming. In 1590 the first known Finnish man named Simon built his farm at the shores of lake Sången. Simon is registered as the first Finnish settler in the district. In 1606 the number had reached 4 families. 30 years later the number had grown to 24 families.

The new settlers had by the mid-17th century become so many that congregations had Finnish-speakiing priests. From Bergslagen the Forest-Finns spread to Värmland and Dalarna.

The ironworks needed more and more forest in their iron production. The authorities forbid in the 18th century the Forest-Finns to burn forests why the Finns had to give up their old agricultural traditions. Still the homes with smoke-heated rooms as the use of the Finnish language stayed around until the late 19th century. Today the names of farms, certain buildings, lakes, rivers and hills remind us that the area once was settled by Forest-Finns from Rautalampi parish in Finland.