Nitedals Gunpowder Factory in Norway

In a valley, in Norway, north of Oslo is an area with lots of history. It is impossible to see this place on satellite photos since trees and vegetation cover the small buildings so it took a while to find the place.

Once there was a gunpowder factory here with many buildings from 1882. The production buildings were placed in a row next to the river with an only one-meter gap. In 1919 an explosion spread through all the houses and 7 people was killed. When they rebuilt the area the buildings was placed further apart. Now, most of these buildings are gone too but the remains and ruins are everywhere.

The remains of the old power plant building are still there. A few control panels are standing under the collapsed roof. There is a hole in a wall from a huge tree trunk that crashed in the building during a flood in the 80ties.

After an explosion in 1967 and one man got killed the production method changed completely. The most modern part is still on site. It is a fully automatic gunpowder factory building with camera surveillance and no people physical on site while the machines worked.

The disasters and deaths ended here. A total of 17 people was killed in different accidents throughout the years, the last two in 1976 in the safe automated building which leads to the shutdown of the facility.

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Collapsing

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - HousesNitedal Gunpowder Factory - Houses a

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Inside house

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Window and glass

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - FusesNitedal Gunpowder Factory - Papers from 1976

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Old commercial

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Washingmachine

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - window

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - MachineNitedal Gunpowder Factory - Powerplant exteriorNitedal Gunpowder Factory - Powerplant insideNitedal Gunpowder Factory - Powerstation 2Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Powerstation1 Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Lever Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Gauge

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Blastbuilding

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Side door

Nitedal Gunpowder Factory - Blastbuilding side