Falun
[key], city, capital of Kopparberg co., S central Sweden; chartered 1624
and again in 1641. It is the headquarters of Sweden's oldest company, the
Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags Aktiebolag, founded (1347) to operate the copper
mines of Falun (no longer mined). The company, which helped considerably to
finance Gustav II's campaigns during the Thirty Years War (1618–48),
is still one of Sweden's largest, holding wide interests in iron, steel,
chemicals, lumber, and paper, as well as in hydroelectric power. Of note in
Falun is a 17th-century church, the Kristine Kyrka.
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