Nusnäs

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About Nusnäs

The dalahäst, the Dala horse, is a carved wooden horse painted red with colorful harnesses and kurbits flowers. The tradition comes from the region's loggers and farmers, who carved little horses as toys during winter nights since at least the 17th century. At the 1939 New York World’s Fair a giant Dala horse was displayed, and since then it became a symbol of Sweden.

In Nusnäs, a village on Lake Siljan, two family workshops run by the Olsson family have been producing the horses by hand since the 1920s. On a visit you can see the stages: pine wood cut into blocks, carving with a knife, dipping in paint and the freehand painting of the harnesses and flowers by painters who repeat the patterns quickly. Each horse is unique, and sizes range from a few centimeters to over a meter.

The workshops have shops with horses in various colors and sizes, and in summer some offer the chance to paint your own horse. The village itself is small, with red houses, and the road runs along the Siljan shore.

The traditional red horse is from Nusnäs; other Dalarna villages have horses with their own colors and shapes.