Hjalmar Söderberg

1859-1933.

Manufacturer, entrepreneur.

In 1885, the merchant Hjalmar Söderberg opened a yarn, sewing accessories and fabric shop in the courtyard of Vaksalagatan 13 (where the City Hall is today).

The business developed and moved to larger premises at Vaksalagatan 15 and already in the 1890s the production of woolen fabrics and clothing began. The industrial operations moved in 1896 to Dragarbrunnsgatan 65 (corner Dragarbrunnsgatan-Kålsängsgränd) and the company developed into the largest in the clothing industry in Uppsala and one of the largest in Sweden.

Söderberg's shop at Vaksalagatan 15, around 1901-1902. Photo: Alfred Dahlgren / Upplandsmuseet.

Interior of Söderberg's shop. The picture is published in Upsala Nya Tidning April 29, 1933. Photo: Paul Sandberg / Upplandsmuseet.

In 1907, a special company was formed for the clothing business under the name AB Hjalmar Söderberg. His son Erik Söderberg took over the management of the company in 1933 and in the 1940s the number of employees in the company, which then had branch factories in Lövstabruk and Örbyhus, amounted to between 500-600 people.

Hjalmar Söderberg's wife Elin (1861-1933) was honored by her son with a sculpture of a woman that adorns the grave. The sculpture was made by the artist Arvid Knöppel and illustrates the biblical passage in Psalm. 126:5 "They that sow with tears shall reap with joy. They go forth weeping, bearing their seed; they return rejoicing, bearing their sheaves."

 

Burial site: 0131-1366

Image description: Factory owner Hjalmar Söderberg, Uppsala 1903. Photo: Anders Larsson / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Carl Wolrath

1863-1926.

Ironmonger, entrepreneur.

Carl Wolrath was born in Eksjö. Later in life he moved to Uppsala and was employed at Öberg's hardware store at Svartbäcksgatan 16 (the store later moved to no. 21).

Wolrath married the merchant's daughter in 1894 and later took over the business in 1901. The shop was then named Wolrath & Co. In 1941, the firm moved a little closer to Stora Torget to Svartbäcksgatan 14.

AB Wolrath & Co, Svartbäcksgatan, Uppsala, August 1940. Photo: Paul Sandberg / Upplandsmuseet.

AB Wolrath & Co's hardware store at Svartbäcksgatan 14, Uppsala, November 1941. Photo: Paul Sandberg / Upplandsmuseet.

Wolrath was a member of the city council between 1905 and 1922, and was elected to the county council in 1919.

 

Burial site: 0138-1556

Image description: Carl Wolrath, Uppsala 1905. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Anders Strandberg

1862-1930.

Traders, entrepreneurs.

Anders Strandberg came to Uppsala at the age of 13 and started working as a messenger.

In 1885, Strandberg started a haberdashery shop at Stora Torget. The shop was later moved to the corner building (built in 1905) on Drottninggatan in the so-called Strandbergska huset. The building was the first in the city with an elevator, central heating and electricity. In the same year, Strandberg, who was socially and technically interested, promoted an electricity plant for the city.

Stora torget in Uppsala 1901-1902, view towards Kungsängsgatan. At the time of the photograph, the building housed Anders Strandberg's haberdashery. The corner plot was owned and developed by Olof Rudbeck the Elder. It housed a post office until 1715. The houses were demolished in 1934. Photo: Alfred Dahlgren / UUB.

Stora torget with the Strandbergska house (built in 1905) to the right, April 29, 1911. On this occasion, the Swedish Week was celebrated as a manifestation to promote Swedish industry. Photo: Unknown photographer / UUB.

Strandberg was a member of the city council from 1899 to 1930, an executive member of the county council from 1916 to 1928, and also a county councillor and member of the hospital board at Uppsala University Hospital. He was also a member of the Civic Elders.

 

Burial site: 0102-0123

Image description: Anders Strandberg, Uppsala, 1897. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB.The image is cropped] Public domain
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Henrik Wilhelm Söderman

1829-1901.

Wholesaler, entrepreneur.

Henrik Wilhelm Söderman from Österbybruk became an apprentice to the tailor Nyblom in Uppsala at the age of 14.

Later, Söderman opened a spice shop and flour mill and also bought land in Rasbo (seven farms together became the Henriksberg estate), followed by the distillery in Lejstabro.

Domestic distilling was banned in 1855 and in 1860 the distillery at Fabriksgatan 4 in Svartbäcken was taken over by Frans Otto Törnlund and Söderman. They had enough taxed land to start distilling spirits.

"Brännvinspengar" became a major source of income for the city and also financed much of Uppsala's industrialization. Examples include the Bavarian brewery and Upsala Ångkvarn, which were bought by Söderman and Törnlund. Uppsala Ångkvarn with its mill, yeast factory and distillery was the city's largest workplace at the turn of the century 1900.

Central Uppsala, with the walls around the Fyrisån river, was built between 1860 and 1890 and was financed by liquor sales and taxation. In the 1860s, there were 29 sales outlets and 27 licensed premises for alcohol in Uppsala.

Söderman was a member of the city council from 1875 to 1878 and from 1883 to 1900, as well as a member of the county chamber and the building committee.

The gravestone is probably the largest in the cemetery in terms of weight and volume and is said to have been blasted out of a rock in Vaksala.

 

Burial site: 0124-1125

Image description: Henrik Wilhem Söderman, Uppsala ca 1878. Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Martin Edlund

1884-1955.

Business leaders.

Martin Edlund grew up in Börje outside Uppsala. As a teenager, Edlund came to his uncle Gustaf Edlund who owned the mill at Vasksala square.

In 1914, Edlund became CEO of Uppsala Valskvarn, which his uncle had bought, and expanded the business through a contract with Skellefteå baker Karl Lundström, who, at Edlund's suggestion, marketed the Uppsala company's flour under the name Vasa with his father's picture on the packaging.

Lundström later started Wasabröd in Filipstad. In 1917, the enterprising Edlund began producing Vasa steam-prepared oatmeal and oat flour.

Later, Holmgren's vinegar factory was bought and transformed into Uppsala Ättiksfabrik AB, whose main product was mustard. It then changed its name to Slotts AB.

The technically gifted engineer Bruno Knebel (who became production manager) was brought in from Germany and Edlund succeeded in obtaining a world patent for his closed system for producing biological vinegar.

In 1936, Edlund also founded the Uppsala silk weaving mill with a famous nursery for the children of employees. He also started the children's colony in Örsand (opposite Skokloster) and was a leader in the Children's Day Movement.

 

Burial site: 0150-2038

Image description: Martin Edlund, oil painting. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
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Henrik Gahn

1820-1874.

Chemist, industrialist, inventor.

Henrik Gahn attended Falu mining school from 1841 to 1842 and was a student at Jernkontoret from 1842 to 1848. He later became director of a lead and silver works in Boda (Rättvik) and devoted himself to forestry, agriculture and chemical experiments.

In 1867, Gahn started a chemical-technical factory at Stora torget in Uppsala with ink, black ink and the disinfectant Aseptin, invented by Gahn, as products. Gahn's inventions played a major role in the company's success.

The company had many other chemical-technical products and was known for its soap range. From 1899, the factory was located in the Gudrun district, at Kålsängsgränd 4 in Uppsala.

The company continued after Gahn's death under the name Henrik Gahns AB in other premises and in 1964, the company was bought by Barnängen who closed the factory in 1968.

Soap packaging in the factory, Uppsala 1917, photo: UUB.

Factory staff, Uppsala 1917, photo: UUB.

Burial site: 0140-1608

Image description: Henrik Gahn, 1870s. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUBThe image is cropped]
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Sixtus Janson

1883-1957.

Manufacturer, sports leader.

Sixtus Janson helped to form the Thor sports association and several other local associations in Uppsala, such as the Uppsala Canoe Society and the Uppsala Sailing Society. Janson was also involved in the formation of the Upplands idrottsförbund in 1912 and was its chairman for five years.

Together with Albin Lindqvist and J. E. Friberg, he took over the Uppsala office book factory at Drottninggatan 6 in 1906. In 1917, the business was moved to Svintorget, today's Kungsängstorg, where Janson lived with his family.

At the national level, he was elected to the boards of several specialized federations within the Swedish Sports Confederation, such as the Cycling Federation, the Athletics Federation, the Ice Sailing Federation and the Swedish Ski Federation, where he was chairman from 1922 to 1948. Sixtus Janson was also a member of the Swedish Olympic Committee and leader of the Swedish ski team during five Olympic Winter Games, from Chamonix 1924 to St. Moritz 1948.

Sixtus Janson led an active life beyond his work at the factory and his sport. His passion was sailing and he was also a keen photographer.

IF Thor's athletes in 1906 lined up at their sports ground south of Uppsala Castle. Sixtus Janson third from left. Photo: Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län.

Upsala office book factory, probably 1950s, Kungsängstorg in Uppsala. The Janson family had an apartment at the top of the factory. The building was demolished around 1970. Photo: Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län.

Burial site: 0108-0417

Image description: Sixtus Janson in the Royal Swedish Sailing Society's cap 1907. Photo: Östling, Uppsala / Folkrörelsearkivet för Uppsala län. [The image is cropped]
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Ester Bobeck

1889-1974.

Self-employed.

Ester Bobeck was known as "Uppsala's tobacco queen" and first started selling tobacco in 1908 at Östra Ågatan 27. It is noteworthy that Ester Bobeck did this at the age of 18. Bobeck married the officer Otto Bobeck in 1914.

She had a flair for business and ran the first shop alone, which became a meeting place for Uppsala students. Students came to Bobeck's shop to smoke cigars and talk.

Four years later, at Östra Ågatan 59 in "Sju helvetes gluggar", the second shop was opened and operated until 1935 when the building was demolished. The store was well located because Flustret, the Academic Hospital and the regiments at Polacksbacken were nearby. Uppsala harbor was also nearby. When the building was demolished, the tobacco shop was kept for a time in the so-called seventh window.

Ester Bobeck's (then Ericsson) first tobacco shop at Östra Ågatan 27 in Uppsala. Photo: From private collection.

"Sjunde gluggen" on Östra Ågatan 59 in Uppsala in 1936. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / Upplandsmuseet.

In 1964, a tobacco shop was established on Fyris Square in Fenixhuset. Then Carl Perschel Barowiak's tobacco shop was taken over.

During his active years, stores were also opened at Dragarbrunnsgatan 26, Kungsängsgatan 8, Drottninggatan 8 and Skolgatan 8. Bobeck was also one of the first members of the Swedish Tobacconists' Association and was awarded the association's gold medal in 1964.

 

Burial site: 0102-0136

Image description: Ester Bobeck in a shop, year unknown. Photo: From private collectionThe image is cropped].
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Adolf Nyman

1866-1921.

Bicycle manufacturer.

Adolf Nyman's father Anders Nyman started a precision engineering workshop in 1873 at Dragarbrunnsgatan 25 in Uppsala and began repairing bicycles with high front wheels in the 1880s.

The first bicycle was built in 1888 and can be considered the Nymans company's first bicycle. After the father's death in 1889, the business was taken over by his widow, who handed over the workshop to her sons Adolf and Janne, who began manufacturing Hermes and Crescent bicycles. Bicycle manufacturing developed into one of the city's largest industries.

The workshop, which was converted into a limited company in 1889 under the name Nymans verkstäder AB, moved to the block at S:t Persgatan 28-30 and became one of Uppsala's largest industrial companies with 1500 employees in the 1950s.

In 1947, the name was changed to Nymansbolagen, which in 1960 merged with the Monark bicycle factory in Varberg. Operations in Uppsala ceased in 1963.

Group photo of the staff at AB Nyman's workshops in the early 1900s, taken with the factory in the background. Photo: Emil L:son Finn / Upplandsmuseet.

Assembly of bicycles, AB Nymans Verkstäder, Noatun block, Uppsala 1939. Photo: Östlings foto / Upplandsmuseet.

Burial site: 0146-1838

Image description: Adolf Fredrik Nyman, Uppsala, 1885. Photo: Heinrich Osti / UUB.The image is cropped]
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