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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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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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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