Thomas Cletscher (1696)

T(h)omas Cletscher (alt. Cletcher or Cletzer) came from a mobile family with long and extensive transnational involvement in the European metal sector. His father, merchant Henrik Cletscher, came from The Hague and for a time served as mayor in Hamburg. In the mid-seventeenth century, he moved his trading business to Stockholm and became involved in the Swedish iron trade through ownership of Axbergshammar ironworks in Närke. He was ennobled in 1672. Thomas grandfather and namesake, Thomas Cletscher Sr., was a recognised jeweller and goldsmith in The Hague, who also served as the city’s mayor 1652–1657. Originally, the Cletscher family came from Colchester in England, immigrating to the Low Countries (Antwerp) during the mid-sixteenth century.

Having studied at Uppsala University from 1684, Cletscher became auskultant (junior official) in Bergskollegium (The Bureau of Mines) in 1695. In the years 1696–1699, he made a longer – state-funded – foreign study tour, resulting in an extensive report to the bureau. During this journey, Cletscher examined mining and metal production as well as other industries and commercial activities across borders. In northern Germany, he visited the saltworks of Lüneburg and Halle, before continuing to the Harz mountains and the mining towns of Goslar, Clausthal, Zellerfeld, and Andreasberg. The latter offered numerous possibilities to examine the production of silver, copper, lead, vitriol, and brass. Cletscher then travelled via Mansfeld-Eisleben to Saxony, where he studied important metalworking activities in Freiberg, Grünthal, Annaberg, Schneeberg, Johanngeorgenstadt, Marienberg, Eibenstock, and Altenberg. Later, in Bohemia, he inspected tin, silver, cobalt, copper, and iron operations, while in Hungary he devoted particular attention to the famous mining districts of Schemnitz (Banská Štiavnica), Kremnitz (Kremnica), and Neusohl (Banská Bystrica). Moving on to Italy, his interest was directed both to commercial activities (e.g., in Venice) and to the study of mineralogically relevant sites (e.g., Vesuvius, Pozzuoli, and Solfatara). In France, he examined crucible-clay deposits near Rouen, salt production in Normandy, and millstone quarries near Saint-Malo, before finishing his journey in England and Wales, with visits to copper mines in Devonshire and Cornwall, silver-lead-copper ventures in Cardiganshire, smelting works at Bristol, and brassworks near London. His notes from the English journey also dealt with ironmaking, coal usage, and potentials for expanding production, discussions that formed a most detailed part of the report. All in all, Cletscher’s travel report is a comprehensive and comparative description of late seventeenth-century European mining and metal production, as perceived by a mobile official.

After the return to Sweden, Cletscher continued his service of the mining administration, becoming bergmästare (Head of mining district) in Scania in 1702, a position he held until his death in 1709.

For more information about members of the Cletscher-family:

Almquist, J. A. Bergskollegium och Bergslagsstaterna 1637-1857 : administrativa och biografiska anteckningar. Stockholm: Norstedt, 1909 [page 185].

Granberg, O. “Thomas Cletcher.” In Personhistorisk Tidskrift XXII, no. 3–4 (1921): 241.

Hines, E. “How to Pawn the Crown Jewels.” The Court Historian 30, no. 3 (2025): 196–213.

See also:

Cletzer nr 806 - Adelsvapen-Wiki