A City Built on Iron

The basis for Brätte's existence as a city was the increasing export of iron from Värmland. The iron, called bar iron, was refined and transported in the form of meter-long bars. At Brätte, the iron was transferred from ships to horse-drawn transport along the more than one-kilometer-long Edsvägen past Trollhättefallen and then reloaded onto ships on the Göta River. Forest products, lime and hides also went south. Freight traffic to the north consisted mainly of herring, salt, wine, cloth, glass and ceramics. Several of Brätte's citizens had an income from these transports and Edsvägen was traversed daily by hundreds of horses. The road had been used long before Brätte's time and was already called Gamlastig (Old path) in the 13th century.