unity
out of diversity
The wooden horse
"Fäboden"
The building tradition
The local history movement
Arts, crafts and peasant costume
Dalarnas museum
180 museums
The realm of the "kurbits"
The Rättvik and Leksand culture centers
The Falun coppermine
Industrial history
Graphic art
Avesta Art
Carl Larsson-gården
Anders Zorn
Folk music
Dalhalla
Music by lake Siljan
Falun Folk music Festival
Jussi Björling
Jump for joy
Theatre indoors and out
Dance in Dalarna
"Film i Dalarna"
 The wooden horse from Dalarna in different shapes. Photo: Dalarna.se. |
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| THE WOODEN HORSE OF DALARNA NOTHING CAN BE MORE SWEDISH THAN THIS • Bob Hope got one, as did Elvis Presley and members of the Supreme Soviet. Bill Clinton was given one by Prime Minister, Göran Persson and when the Swede, Carl Bildt left his peace-making mission in Bosnia, he gave away 400 of them. It’s the ”Dalahästen” we’re talking about , a wooden horse painted in bright, cheerful colours. To many people it represents the original, genuine symbol of Sweden, more powerful than the Swedish flag. It made its international breakthrough at the World Exhibition in New York in 1939. The ”Dalahästen” was carved out of a piece of wood in the evening firelight after the day’s work in the forest while the snow fell outside the window and the wind howled round the corner. That it should be a horse was obvious – the horse was at the same time friend, work-mate and a symbol of strength.
Originally, it was a toy, something made and sold to eke out the housekeeping money. Today, it is an ornament, a tourist souvenir and still a genuine piece of Swedish handicraft. Nowadays, hundreds of thousands of wooden horses are produced every year. They are manufactured and sold at Nusnäs, a village just south of Mora. Visitors from all over the world come to see how the horse is carved and decorated and, then, to buy one as a souvenir. |
• The biggest ”Dalahäst” in the world stands at the approach to Avesta. It was unveiled in 1989, is 13 metres high and weighs 6.7 tonnes. • The smallest produced so far measures 3.5 millimetres. Its decorations were painted by Gunilla Lindberg at Nusnäs. • About 400,000 "Dalahästar" are produced every year. Twenty per cent go for export. |
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