Svenskehusene

An example of a cultural environment in the Regional Municipality of Bornholm.

Svenskehusene (the Swedish houses) on Bornholm are 300 prefabricated wooden houses from 1945. There are two types of houses: single-storey bungalows and two-storey villas. All the houses are in characteristic pastel colours, blue, green, yellow, grey, rose-pink. Neighbouring houses are almost never of the same colour.

Svenskehusene can be found in Rønne, to the west, and Nexø, to the east, in clearly defined residential areas. In Rønne, 225 houses were constructed, creating five new neighbourhoods of this type of buildings – from Lærkevej, to the north, to Bellmansvej, to the south. In north-western Nexø, 75 houses form two neighbourhoods around a street called Paradisvej.

Billedetekst

Svenskehusene, the Regional Municipality of Bornholm

Narrative

In the days following the Liberation, Bornholm’s German commander refused to surrender. Consequently, the Soviet Union bombed Rønne and Nexø on 7 and 8 May 1945. Rendering 750 of the island’s families homeless with one stroke.

The people of Sweden were touched by the distress of their close neighbours: they donated 300 prefabricated wooden houses of the two types to the people of Bornholm – including furniture. Foundations were poured, streets established, and from September the same year, the first buildings were ready for occupation.

Principal conservation values

Principal conservation values pertain to the wooden houses of both towns: their location, colour schemes, and building details – as well as the overall character of the neighbourhoods.

Condition

All the buildings still exist today and are well preserved – both individually and when seen as a group of buildings. The houses today constitute attractive residential areas in the two towns.