ABSTRACT
In April 1771 the Swedish state initiated an ambitious urban experiment by declaring that a ‘Freetown for Workers in iron-, steel- and metal-processing’ was to be established in Eskilstuna, the so-called Fristaden. The Swedish eighteenth century did not see much urban change, so what happened in Eskilstuna could be viewed as a break-up of the early-modern urban landscape. The founding of Fristaden was an important part of the dissolution of Swedish mercantilism, but it must also be analysed in relation to a much treasured idea of mercantilism: how to promote the trades and to enhance export. Sweden was one of Europe’s major iron producers, and from the middle of the seventeenth century it had supplied Britain with increasing volumes of bar iron to be consumed in the expanding manufacturing sector in places like Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle. From the mid eighteenth century, Swedish ironmasters met increased competition from Russian producers, and the Swedish iron industry faced serious problems. One solution to this was to promote a domestic metal trade. What happened in 1771 was thus both mercantilism in action, but also a measure that would erode the very foundation of this economic doctrine. This chapter will not deal with Fristaden as such, as the ambition is to analyse the process of its initiation from the perspective of the man often hailed as its creator, Samuel Schröder; Fristaden was the result of his ‘long and tedious work with the improvement of the conditions for iron, steel, and metal making in Sweden’. 1 The starting point is, thus, mercantilism and its dissolution, but there is also a spatial aspect to the argument as Schröder had travelled in Europe and the ideas behind Fristaden are entangled with what he had seen during a stay in Britain.
