The Swedish Houses

People on the island call these pastel, wooden homes the “Swedish Houses,” but you won’t find a sign to that effect. The discerning traveller might, however, wonder why they’re of a different style than the other houses on this Danish island.

Every year, Europe celebrates the end of Word War II in Europe (Victory in Europe Day) on May 8th. However, few people realize that on that very day in 1945, Soviet fighters dropped bombs on two towns on the Danish island of Bornholm, Nexø and Rønne. Soviet soldiers remained on Bornholm for another 11 months after the end of the war, and older residents still vividly remember these events.

Numerous homes were destroyed in the bombings, and in 1945, the Swedish state offered to provide some 300 wooden houses for Rønne and Nexø. These houses, characteristically colorful, came to be known as the Swedish Houses and stand as visible reminders in the townscape today.