Tranchell sockerkungarna

in Swedish

Tranchell in Landskrona's sugar top

In the mid-19th century, there were approximately 400 factories in Europe that manufactured sugar. The sugar used in Europe before the 19th century came from imported cane sugar, but in the mid-18th century, researchers, primarily in Germany, began trying to extract sugar from sugar beets.

The first sugar factory was built in 1802 in Germany and the know-how then spread to more and more countries. In each country there were bold entrepreneurs who saw opportunities in satisfying the growing demand for sugar. In Denmark his name was Carl Frederik Tietgen and he founded De Danske Sukkerfabrikker A/S↗ daW in 1872.

At that time, Justus Tranchell had already lived in Landskrona for twenty years and together with one of Malmö's great industrialists Frans Henrik Kockum (IDstory) started 'Skånska Sockerfabriks AB' in 1853.

A few years later, he would rebuild the Landskrona factory that burned down in 1875. The sugar cube on the map shows where the factory was located in the middle of central Landskrona, and in the background of the portrait, the factory is visible as if it had been photographed from the church tower of the nearby Sofia Albertina church. The sugar cube is today the city hall.

More about the entrepreneurs Tranchell and the sugar industry↓

When sugar became an industry

Sugar beet growing was initially a very labor-intensive activity. During the beet campaign, the workforce multiplied and there were many conflicts over wages and other working conditions. Mechanization began early and those from the past would perhaps say that today's sugar beets are harvested from a mobile office room.More about the sugar beat industry ↓

The Tranchell family house

In 1875, the sugar factory in central Landskrona burned down. When the new one was built a few years later, there was room in the neighboring property for a magnificent house for the company's director.

In 1918, Carl Tranchell had a castle built just south of Helsingborg.. Photos of the Tranchell hpuse and Örenäs castle ↓

The Tranchell family's gravesite in the Säby church cemetary

Säby Church is located on the eastern outskirts of Landskrona, not far from one of the farms, Säbyholm, that Justus Tranchell bought to grow sugar beets. He and his wife Amalia had two sons and ten daughters. Several of these are buried in the family grave.

Gabriella and several of her sisters lived their lives tied to the family and Säbyholm. About the Tranchell family gravesite and a little about family life ↓

From the mid-19th century, sugar began to make its mark on Landskrona on an ever-increasing scale, and this would continue for just over 100 years until the day in 1962 when the raw sugar factory in Säbyholm received its last sugar beets. The sugar beet area in the city's surroundings increased when Justus Tranchell needed more sugar beets for his new factory - marked on the map with a sugar cube - and with the entrepreneur's energy, both technical and commercial problems were solved.

Landskrona got unlucky in the right way

If you have bad luck in a very wrong way, no companies are created and no cities grow, but Landskrona was lucky to have an entrepreneur whose venture into sugar production failed the right way. He, 'Bror Cederström'and his company 'Landskrona Hvitbetssockerfabrik', had a large creditor who thought he could save his money by taking over the business and make it profitable.

Now Justus Tranchell - who through his marriage to Amalia was married into the Mattson family - was sent to Landskrona in 1851 to save the family money. Justus realized that major investments were required and he managed to get Malmö's great industrialist Frans Henrik Kockum (IDstory) to become a partner in the company. They invested 600,000 riksdaler - today over 60 million kronor - in new machinery and renovation of the factory. The new company that was formed in 1853 was called 'Skånska Sockerfabriksaktiebolaget' and it operated until 1907 when it was liquidated and Svenska Sockerfabriks AB (SSA) was created.

Justus Tranchell was both a strategist and a practitioner. One would have liked to ask him what questions were most important in the company's different phases. It was obvious that the new large factory needed more raw materials and therefore several farms were purchased in the Landskrona area. Improving logistics was also important and the sugar industry pushed forward many new railway lines through the Skåne landscape.

Now follows a little about the important price issue of sugar.

Sugar beet researchers and German technicians

Both Justus and Carl traveled around Europe to learn more about sugar beet research and sugar manufacturing. They were certainly familiar with the work done by the German beet researchers Marggraf↗ enW, Achard und Scheibler. They bought machinery from England and employed German technicians. Sometimes things went wrong and Justus had to use his diplomatic talent. Did he ask his wife for advice?

Why was a sugar refinery built in the city center? The answer is the harbor, but later several refineries were built in places like Lund, Hasslarp and Staffanstorp, all without known harbor facilities. The location depicts how the raw material shifted from imported cane sugar to locally produced sugar beets. The logic of logistics.

What traces do you see in the city today of the century-old sugar boom? There is no local sugar-based financial capital that has been transferred to other industries. The houses are owned by companies outside the city and the sugar beet research and processing company Hilleshög has changed its name toMariboHilleshög↗ after a merger with Danish Maribo.

Carl Tranchell

From today's perspective, we see great similarities between Justus and his son Carl. Both were entrepreneurs and were involved in various public assignments in Landskrona. Carl had a technical education, but after his father's death in 1883, he became increasingly involved in uniting various sugar factories into a sugar monopoly.

One can imagine that the city eventually became too small for Carl when he had the Örenäs Castle built, a building that his vanity was about to make even larger.

We borrowed the red tie from Barach Obama. It becomes easier to see the person himself in old portraits if you make them a little more personal. Cardo's anniversary book 1907 - 1982 is an excellent source for learning about Justus and Carl Tranchell's efforts and the development of the Swedish sugar industry.

Development of the sugar industry

About 80% of the world's sugar comes from cane sugar and the largest producer in the world is Brazil. There are a few dominant issues in the sugar industry over the past 100 years. One of these is the struggle between sugar beet growers and sugarcane producers and those who refine and process/sell the sugar. Today, more and more of the sugar industry is owned by those who grow the raw material. One of the explanations for this is the high price volatility of sugar. The picture below shows the large fluctuations over a few years. Prices are given in cents/pound.

Sugar prices - se utmärkt sida om aktuell statistik↗

After a little consumer information from sugar producer Nordic Sugar, you can see how sugar is made.

The sugar beet harvester on the first page has room for 28 tons of beets and comes from the English Agrifac↗. There you can also see interior pictures and reflect on how the old heavy and back-breaking beet picking work has moved indoors.

Sugar in manby shapes

About sugar↗ enW. One gets the feeling that there are 'similarities' between the shaping of sugar and of stearin. The liquid solutions were allowed to flow over a core and gradually solidified. To remove the sugar from the sugar top, special tools were used to pinch off a piece. A Belgian named Theophile Adant invented a method of making sugar cubes in the 1880s. They weren't the perfect ones rectangular block↗ svW we find in today's instant sugar cubes, but had slightly uneven edges. They were named after their inventor and were called Adantsugar. This and several other shapes were manufactured in Tranchell's Landskrona factory, among others.

Nordic Sugar

Örtofta sugar factory

Of the dozens of sugar factories that once existed, only Örtofta sugar mill remains today. [No longer so] Beetroot is grown in Sweden on approximately 39,000 hectares (?) and the future of Swedish beet cultivation is largely determined by the future sugar policy in the EU. Sugar has always been regulated with various forms of production quotas and price controls (and subsidies). Sweden and many other countries have long had a national strategy to be self-sufficient in sugar. In Sweden, consumption is approximately 40 kg per person/year and we import sugar.

When Svenska Sockeraktiebolaget (SSA) had saturated the Swedish market for sugar, it began to diversify towards the food industry. Another prominent Skåne entrepreneur, Herbert Felix, sold his company Felix to SSA in 1961. It took about a decade before SSA realized that they did not have sufficient ability to run a food company. In 1968, SSA was merged into Cardo and became more of an investment company. The sugar part was sold in 1993 to the Danish Danisco, and in 2009 they sold it on to the German Nordzucker and today operates under the name Nordic Sugar↗.

There was also an a sugar factory in Arlöv↗ where sugar was refined.

The city apartment

This elegant house was built between 1890 and 1893 and was the family home for several decades. The house, No. 19 in the Bryggan block, is listed in Carl Tranchell's estate inventory from 1919. Ownership was divided into three equal parts to the surviving sons Carl Fredrik and Carl Henrik and to the daughter Ella, who in 1937 sold her share to her brothers. The property is today owned by Svenska hus in Gothenburg and would be worth a IDstory of its own. Carl Tranchell received the house as a gift in 1908 in connection with the liquidation of Skånska Sockerfabriksaktiebolaget and the formation of Svenska Sockerfabriks AB (SSA).

It was Carl Tranchell who had this 'simple residence' built. Today, Örenäs Castle is a conference facility.

10 daughters and 10 women Tranchell

Justus and Amalia Tranchell, born Matsson, had two sons and ten daughters. Ellen and Gabriella represent their sisters here. They meet us with a fixed gaze and in other times some of them would have surely made a name for themselves just like their brother Carl. Ingeborg was the oldest daughter and the youngest was Ebba who lived until 1961.

The family lived in a city apartment, on Säbyholm's estate and the old royal estate Erikstorp by the Landskrona golf course was used as a summer residence. Five of the sisters lived most of their lives on Säbyholm. In Edith Hemby's book about Säby it is said that ...

Tranchells familjegrav i Säby kyrka, Landskrona

Runa över Justus Tranchell

'Ny Illustrerad veckotidning' ↗ svW was published between 1865 and 1890. On August 25, 1883, the entire first page was devoted to an obituar about Justus Tranchell, born in 1818 in Gothenburg. In the middle was a large picture of the industrialist and the text began with these words ..

Among the many prominent men who, during the past few decades, through extensive insights, great practical ability and never-failing perseverance, have brought agriculture and industry in Skåne to the height at which these industries now find themselves, Justus Fredrik Tranchell occupies one of the most notable places..

It was common for prominent businessmen of that time to also become involved in various areas of society.

He became chairman of the city's elders, in the chamber of tradesmen, in the Landskrona Eslöv Railway Board, for example the city council and inspector of the Landskrona schools, member of the county council ... and in the second chamber of the Parliament during the years 1868-1873 ... His unwavering interest in all things progressive made him a participant in a large number of industrial facilities both in and outside Skåne.

It is surprising how diligently, amidst this incessant and diverse activity, he devoted himself to reading and became familiar with the literary, political and industrial phenomena of the most important cultural countries. He foilloed the chamber proceedings in Paris, the parliamentary debates in London as well as the affairs of the Parliament in Stockholm and the questions of the Storting in Kristiania; and he also followed purely scientific investigations with attention.

Referenser

• About BiBB, a media company and an encyclopedia 4.0
• Edith Hemby; Säby - sockerbetans socken
• Familjen Tranchells privata arkiv
• Åke Jönsson, Historien om en stad, 1995 | Jan Kuuse, Sockerbolaget Cardo, 1982
• Historiska bilder: Landskrona museum
• Text/photo/web: Johan Schlasberg

Published: 2013.01 Updated: 2025.06.15

Kategorier 20 Historical persons 45 Landskrona 14

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