Andreas Lauritz Thune

Who was Andreas Lauritz Thune?

Andreas Lauritz Thune was a Norwegian engineer and businessman, associated with the company Thunes Mekaniske Værksted.

He was born in Drammen. His grandfather, who was a blacksmith by profession, had founded a workshop in that city in 1815. The workshop developed to the manufacturing company Thunes Mekaniske Værksted, or Thune for short. It moved to Kristiania in 1851, with Andreas' father in charge.

Andreas Lauritz Thune graduated from Horten Technical College in 1868. He took over Thune in 1871, at the age of twenty-three. At that time the production facilities were located in the downtown street Ruseløkkveien, but Andreas Thune moved to the nearby street Munkedamsveien. He started production of agricultural machinery and steam engines, and locomotive production began in the 1890s. Around the turn of the 20th century Thune became the most important locomotive manufacturer in Norway, along with Hamar Jernstøberi og Mekaniske Verksted. Between 1901 and 1920 these two manufacturers delivered about 250 locomotives to the Norwegian State Railways. To allow this kind of production, the production facilities had moved to rural Skøyen, as the locale in Munkedamsveien became too small for large-scale industrial production, and expansion was physically difficult. Andreas Thune had bought the property Kjellebekk, near Skøyen Railway Station, and was personally registered as owner in the 1899 property valuation. Originally using the estate as a country house, he commenced the building of production halls in 1901 and moved in with the company the next year.