When Folldal Copper Works needed a smelting house in 1748, they built it here at Plassen and named it after Queen Louise of Denmark-Norway. The location was chosen for its access to water power and timber for charcoal. The smelting works operated for over 130 years, processing copper ore hauled from the mines at Folldal, 30 kilometres to the west.
The works became the economic heart of the area, and Plassen grew into what is now the centre of Alvdal. Workers, merchants and farmers settled around the smelter, drawn by the wages and trade it generated. In 1879, the building burned down and was never rebuilt. By then, the copper market had changed and the old charcoal-based smelting methods could no longer compete.
Today, the archaeological remains are still visible at the site: stone foundations, the water channel that drove the bellows and hammers, and slag heaps where the waste from smelting was dumped. The slag, with its glassy blue-green surface, is scattered across the area and serves as a quiet reminder of the 131 years when this spot was the industrial centre of upper Østerdalen.
The works became the economic heart of the area, and Plassen grew into what is now the centre of Alvdal. Workers, merchants and farmers settled around the smelter, drawn by the wages and trade it generated. In 1879, the building burned down and was never rebuilt. By then, the copper market had changed and the old charcoal-based smelting methods could no longer compete.
Today, the archaeological remains are still visible at the site: stone foundations, the water channel that drove the bellows and hammers, and slag heaps where the waste from smelting was dumped. The slag, with its glassy blue-green surface, is scattered across the area and serves as a quiet reminder of the 131 years when this spot was the industrial centre of upper Østerdalen.
