Røros Mining Town and its Circumference (extension to Røros Mining Town)

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Norvège (Europe et Amérique du nord)

Date de soumission : 15/02/2008
Critères: (iii)(iv)(v)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumission préparée par :
Directorate for Cultural Heritage
Etat, province ou région :
Counties of Sør-Trøndelag and Hedmark, Municipalities of Røros, Os, Tolga, Engerdal, Tydal, Holtålen
Coordonnées
N62.61 E10.68 / N63.04 E11.61 / N62.23 E11.61
Ref.: 5284

Description

At latitude of 62 degrees North, Røros Mining Town is situated between 620 and 675 metres above sea level and is surrounded by bare mountains that clearly define the outer edge of the town's urban landscape. The town has a typical inland climate with cool summers and harsh winters. Mining started here in 1644. A smelting works was built on the river Hitterelven and a settlement grew up on the gentle slopes of the valley, initially on the west bank of the river, spreading later to the east bank too. The town was burnt down by Swedish troops in 1678 and again in 1679, but the mining town was quickly rebuilt and has never burnt since then. However, the smelting house has burnt down several times. The same copper-mining company, Røros Kobberverk, ran the copper-works for 333 years from 1644 until it went bankrupt in 1977.

In the Nomination Document from 1978, Røros Mining Town is described thus: "Besides the slag heaps, the masonry church with its 1540 seats dominates the landscape, which otherwise consists of one- and two- storey wooden houses. These buildings characteristically resemble complete and compact farmyards, with the main buildings constructed to face the street and the outbuildings against the neighbours' outbuildings. Most of the street facades are panelled today, but there are also some with the log walls visible, as was almost always the case originally. "

The inscription documents from 1980 do not define the limits of the world heritage site, but in practice, the world heritage site has corresponded to the conservation area pursuant to the Planning and Building Act. This was finally formalised in connection with the Retrospective Inventory Project in 2006. There is no buffer zone. The Mining Town contains wooden buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. Malmplassen with the smelting house "Smeltehytta" (now the Røros Museum) comprises the heart of the world heritage site, surrounded by the black slag heaps and the large white-washed masonry church built in 1784.

Extension of the core area and establishment of a buffer zone

The purpose of the extension is to expand the world heritage site to also include the cultural landscapes - industrial and agricultural - and the transport routes linking them, which together explain why this town was established in this inhospitable place, and which show how it functioned and developed its own unique culture.

In 1646, two years after ore was discovered here, the King of the Dano-Norwegian Union, Christian IV, signed a charter granting the copper-mining company Røros Kobberverk the right to exploit the mineral, forestry and water resources in an area defined as a circle of four "miles" from the centre at Øvre Storwartz mine. Today, this marks a circle with a radius of 45,2 km. The extension of the world heritage site entails both an extension of the core area and the establishment of a buffer zone corresponding to the circumference - the area covered by the charter.

Within the Circumference there are mountainous areas and forests that represent vast natural assets today, including two national parks and a number of nature conservation areas. Before mining started, the bros area was sparsely populated. The area had previously been used for hunting and trapping, mountain farming, grazing and meadows. Archaeological finds dating back to the Stone Age have been found here. The most reliable traces of farming here are from approx. 900 AD. In the 17th century, the area had a handful of farms and a Sami population. The entire area included in the Circumference has been affected by the copperworks. The mines also generated other activities. Røros became the trade centre and the raison d 'être for activities far beyond the Circumference. We can still recognise traces of this in the landscape today.

From the very beginning, the special farming methods used in Røros have been essential to the community's survival in the mountains between Østerdalen and Gauldalen. The combination of keeping livestock and working in the mines made the miners and their families less susceptible to fluctuations in mining activities. The town consists of small farms arranged around courtyards along streets. The grass in the meadows and fields near the town was harvested and the hay was stored in small sheds out in the meadows, and brought in in winter. There are still many of these meadows and hay sheds in and around the town, some even quite close to the centre.

The mines were in the mountains, and the smelting works were situated along rivers. Nowadays, these areas are industrial cultural landscapes with ruins of eleven mining areas of varying sizes, five large and a few small sites with ruined smelting works, remains of dams, wooden water channels and power stations from the late 19th century. Today the Olavsgruva mine from 1936 is open to the public as a museum.

The mines, smelting works, the town and communities created an enormous need for transport. Ore, charcoal, wood, and building materials had to be brought to the smelting works and mines. Copper had to be transported to Trondheim. The mining communities were not self-sufficient in terms of food, and the mining company had to supply provisions for the population. Most of the transport was done during winter using horses and oxen. Records show that remains of some of the earliest summer routes are also still visible in the landscape today. The Røros railway line (Norway's first mountain line, opened in 1877) changed the transport systems beyond recognition, and the introduction of electricity meant that cableways could be used to transport ore from the mines. The cableway courses are still visible in the terrain, and the cableway between Olavsgruva mine and the flotation works at Storwartz has been restored/partly reconstructed.

All transportation and the copperworks' need for wood and charcoal led to the establishment of farms in areas that had not previously been inhabited. The farms had larger farmhouses and room in the stables for more horses than might be expected at remote mountain farms. Nowadays, much of the cultural landscape is still being preserved by active farming. There are many remains of charcoal burning.

From the 17th century on, the Samis gradually turned from hunting to nomadic reindeer herding, and from 1900, they settled in mountain farms. The population of Røros and the Samis enjoyed mutually beneficial relations. The Samis traded in meat, hide, and horn products and reindeer milk products. Within the Circumference there are large grazing areas used by southern Samis for reindeer husbandry, and Sami sites and cultural landscapes have been registered throughout the Circumference. There are still some Sami families living in the area that keep reindeer. Active steps are being taken to strengthen and preserve the southern-Sami language.

Valeur universelle exceptionnelle

Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionelle

The outstanding universal values of bros Mining Town and its Circumference are linked to the unique wooden town, its interaction with the cultural landscape, and the surrounding natural landscapes. Its situation in the mountains and the harsh climate have resulted in characteristic building traditions and have shaped the industrial and agricultural landscape. The universal value is in the preserved completeness that demonstrates the entire breadth of interrelated functions that were necessary for copper to be extracted and the town to exist. This is also the background for the diversity of cultural expressions found in language, music, song, dance, art, crafts and other traditions.

Satements of authenticity and/or integrity

Integrity: In Røros Mining Town, the old wooden town has been preserved with a high degree of integrity in terms of town planning and the relationship between the town and the landscape. There is farmland close to the town centre in many places, but the town continues to evolve and access to the open grasslands has been disrupted in some places. Recent developments in Røros are continuing the tradition of building in wood and are for the most part well adapted to the landscape. Since the closure of the copperworks, Røros has continued to be an active industrial town, and the flat plain at the bottom of the dish-shaped landscape is now home to industrial buildings and the airport. Both are essential to the community today.

Most of the mines, smelting works, etc. in the Circumference remain untouched as a relict industrial cultural landscape and thus have a high degree of integrity. Many farms and agricultural landscapes that developed as a result of the copper mining continue to be worked today with livestock. Other agricultural landscapes are growing over (relict cultural landscape), but they are still rich in historic remains. The Government provides grants to preserve the cultural landscape. The degree of integrity will be decisive for which cultural landscapes are to be included in the world heritage core area and what will form the buffer zone.

Authenticity: The old wooden town has been preserved with a high degree of authenticity. The most authentic are the outhouses that have undergone "soft conservation" in the last ten years. Outside Røros too there are hay sheds, farms and summer grazing farms with buildings that have been preserved with a high degree of authenticity.

Comparison with other similar properties

When it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980, the architecture of the mining town Røros and its relationship to the landscape were emphasised. This unity and interaction continue to be values that make Røros Mining Town unique globally. This distinguishes it from other mining towns and means it should not only be compared with other mining towns, but also with wooden towns in general. The extension emphasises this interdependence by including the entire spectrum of necessary functions in the world heritage site. This entails that Røros and its Circumference must be compared with other industrial cultural landscapes. No systematic comparisons have been undertaken yet, but mining towns it would be natural to compare Røros with are: Falun, Rammelsberg and Goslar, Blaenavon, Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. Wooden towns: Falun, Rauma.