The sulfuric acid factory before it was renovated. Copyright © Nitro Nobel Workers outside the factory. Copyright © Nitro Nobel   The sulfuric acid factory. Drawing by Olle Rydberg Copyright © Nitro Nobel  

The factory at Vinterviken was destroyed more than once by terrible explosions. Sketch by R. Haglund.

A captain in the Naval Engineering Corps, engineer and businessman. Together with , he put up the capital for the formation of Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget. He and Captain J. A. Berg were owners of Wennerström & Berg, engaged in stonecutting and similar operations “for which prisoners assigned to hard labor may be used, in accordance with…

Alfred Nobel’s youngest brother Emil, killed in the explosion at Heleneborg in 1864.

The Detonics Research Laboratory around 1963. Copyright © Nitro Nobel

by Birgitta Lemmel In 1873 Alfred Nobel settled in Paris and bought a magnificent house on He had a small laboratory in the yard, where he worked together with the young French chemist Georges D. Fehrenbach, who was to become Nobel’s faithful and trustworthy assistant behind the scenes during the nearly two decades that the…

by Birgitta Lemmel Between 1865 and 1873 Alfred Nobel’s home, laboratory, and the focal point of his business were in Hamburg. In 1873 he left Hamburg and moved to Paris. He had always had a great liking for Paris, which was the lively center of international business and had all cultural activities that he had…

Paul François Barbe became Alfred Nobel’s French partner for many years. As early as 1868, Nobel went into partnership with Barbe for the exploitation of dynamite in France. In 1870, under Barbe’s forceful management, the manufacture of dynamite began in Paulille near the Spanish border, an isolated spot chosen for security reasons. Barbe’s skill in…

Kieselguhr, a diatomaceous earth (diatomite) is a form of silica composed of the siliceous shells of unicellular aquatic plants of microscopic size. Kieselguhr is heat resistant and has been used as an insulator, as a component in toothpaste and as an abrasive in metal polishes. In the chemical industry, it is also used as a…

Immanuel and Andrietta Nobel had six children. Four of them survived childhood: Robert (1829-1896), Ludvig (1831-1888), Alfred (1833-1896), and Emil (1843-1864). Two died as infants. Emil, who like his brothers Robert and Ludvig worked for the family business, was killed in a tragic explosion which occurred in Heleneborg, Stockholm on September 3, 1864. Robert Nobel…