This is what it looked like when the restoration of the workers’ housing in Bråtagata (Garden Street) had only just begun in the late 1970s. The buildings had fallen into a state of serious disrepair and the landowner wanted to demolish them. Local campaigners led the fight to preserve the old workers’ housing. Today, they form an important part of what the Directorate for Cultural Heritage has termed a “unique industrial-historical complex”. In addition to private homes, Bråtagata is now home to the popular Odl Eidsfos Tavern and two museum exhibitions.
In the mid-1970s, many of the old houses in Eidsfoss were in a state of disrepair and at risk of demolition. There was a widespread desire to regenerate working-class neighbourhoods in Norway after the war, but developments in Eidsfoss illustrate how these attitudes changed as the 1980s approached. The bakery in Bråtagata was demolished in 1975, and two years later Hof Municipality decided to demolish three of the workers’ houses. The decision sparked a heated debate, and a group of passionate campaigners stepped in and formed a foundation on 4 May 1979, with the aim of preserving the area. The heritage authorities, who were placing increasing emphasis on such environments, were key supporters in the fight against demolition. The Foundation for the Active Preservation of Cultural Heritage and the Environment at Eidsfoss has since been at the forefront of efforts to ensure the vitality and future of this 300-year-old industrial community.
Bråtagata is an important part of Eidsfoss, which the Director-General for Cultural Heritage has described as a ‘unique industrial heritage site’. The workers’ dwellings in Bråtagata were built in the early 18th century and, together with the two other workers’ settlements, Hauane and Gata, the industrial buildings and Hovedgården, form a whole that has been described as one of Norway’s best-preserved ironworks communities. A ‘Bråte’ refers to a small, fertile patch of land where the residents grew vegetables, primarily potatoes. The soil is rich in nutrients due to runoff from the mountain above. Cultivating the Bråte provided a welcome supplement to the workers’ families’ income. The buildings were constructed from slag stone and log timber, and were painted red. The red paint was based on iron oxide, an inexpensive by-product of iron production. The workforce grew around the turn of the century, and the houses, which were originally one-and-a-half storeys high, were extended between 1910 and 1912 to include a full second storey and verandas. At that time, 16 families with nearly 50 children lived here in Bråtagata. Until 1922, when the main road was extended northwards, Bråtagata was the end of the world.
