Glass Art on Bornholm – Workshops, Artists and Events

Bornholm is now regarded as one of Northern Europe's densest clusters of glass studios, though the tradition is younger than its reputation suggests. It was only from the late 1970s that glassworks began springing up across the island one after another – many of them in former fish-smoking houses, whose tall chimneys turned out to be well suited to glass furnaces. This guide walks through the main workshops with addresses and 2026 opening hours, explains who's behind the big names, and points out the dates when a visit is especially worthwhile.

How glass came to Bornholm

An earlier attempt goes back much further: in the autumn of 1847, a glassworks near Hasle started up, bringing twelve German glassmakers to the island for the venture. It failed quickly – Bornholm's coal wasn't suitable fuel for the glass furnace – so the works only ran for about a year. Its founder and official name aren't reliably recorded.

The living glass tradition that continues today began only around 130 years later. The pioneer is generally considered to be Mogens Dam, a musician born in 1936, who brought the craft of glassblowing to the island. In 1977 he set up the first modern glassblowing workshop in the former Snogebæk Røgeri (smokehouse), and a year later, in 1978, founded the Gudhjem Glasrøgeri. From there the scene branched out: artists trained in the early studios went on to open workshops of their own, and over time glass artists from Sweden, the US and Japan settled on the island too.

Baltic Sea Glass in Melsted

Right on the rocky coast at Melsted, a hamlet south of Gudhjem, sits Baltic Sea Glass – one of Scandinavia's best-known addresses for hand-blown glass. The studio was founded in 1981 by Maibritt Jönsson and Pete Hunner. Worth knowing for a current visit: since 2 April 2020 the business has been owned by Michael Brandt and Jan Engelbrecht; Jönsson remains involved as a mentor and adviser but no longer runs the studio herself.

• Address: Melstedvej 47, 3760 Gudhjem
• Opening hours 2026: Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, Sunday 10:00 to 14:00
• Admission: free

Several times a week the studio holds its Unika demonstrations, in which larger one-off pieces are made in front of visitors. There's no fixed weekday for these, so if you want to catch one, it's best to check ahead. No booking is needed for a regular visit to the workshop.

Gudhjem Glasrøgeri – the oldest workshop

Gudhjem Glasrøgeri, founded by Mogens Dam in 1978, is Bornholm's oldest still-operating glassblowing workshop. The studio – popularly known as the "Glashytte" (glass hut) – is run by Pernille Bastrup: she trained at the Orrefors glass school in Sweden from 1979 to 1981, began working in Gudhjem in 1981, took over the lease in 1987 and bought the business outright in 1993. The date "since 1993" often quoted therefore refers to the purchase, not the start of her work there. Bastrup's stated aim is everyday glassware meant for daily use, rather than expensive display pieces.

• Address: Ejnar Mikkelsensvej 13A, Gudhjem
• Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 10:00 to 16:00
• Admission: free

Pernille Bülow in Svaneke

In the artists' town of Svaneke, the Pernille Bülow brand has grown from a small studio into a business sold internationally. Rather than the romantic tale of a childhood spark, Bülow's route into glass was a classic apprenticeship: in 1982 she trained at the Orrefors Glasskola in Sweden and then worked at Baltic Sea Glass. In 1985 she set up her first own workshop as a tenant at the Snogebæk Glashytte, and in 1989 opened the gallery "Pernille Bülow Glas" on Glastorvet in Svaneke. Since 2005 the company has also sold Fairtrade jewellery made in Koforidua, Ghana.

If you want to try your own hand at glassblowing, Pernille Bülow By You is the place – a hands-on studio running since 2009, about 100 metres from the gallery:

• Address: Brænderigænget 5, Svaneke; phone +45 53 86 66 72
• Season: Easter to the Danish autumn half-term break
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00, Saturday 10:00 to 14:00; closed Sunday and Monday
• Groups should book their table in advance

Smaller studios and galleries

Beyond the big names, a number of smaller workshops shape the scene. Most open only seasonally or by arrangement, so it's worth calling ahead of your visit:

• Glød Glas Studio, in Balka near Nexø – Boulevarden 1, Balka, 3730 Nexø; phone +45 28 11 04 46. Venetian techniques in a contemporary style.
• Rø Glasværksted by Svend Holst-Pedersen – workshop at Rø Stationsvej 5, Rø, 3760 Gudhjem; gallery at Peter F. Heerings Gade 1, 3740 Svaneke; phone +45 21 24 75 96. Usually open daily in summer, or by arrangement.
• Matter – House of Craft at the harbour in Nexø, run by glass artist Zelmer Olsen together with ceramicist Sarah Oakman.

For a broader overview of the island's crafts – glass alongside ceramics, textiles, wood and metalwork – visit Grønbechs Gård in Hasle, home to Bornholm's Centre for Arts and Crafts. It's housed in harbourside warehouse buildings dating from 1875, hosts changing exhibitions and serves as a showcase for members of the ACAB craft association; phone +45 56 96 18 70. More broadly artistic, though not a glass-specific address, is the Bornholm Art Museum near Gudhjem (Otto Bruuns Plads 1, 3760 Gudhjem), open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 from April to October, and Friday to Sunday 10:00 to 17:00 from November to March.

Events, training and the network behind it all

It's no accident that Bornholm holds the title of World Craft Region from the World Craft Council: behind the scene stands a dense network. The Arts & Crafts Association Bornholm (ACAB) has, since 2002, brought together more than 60 professional craftspeople working in glass, ceramics, wood, jewellery and textiles; an external panel decides on membership. New talent is trained at the Glass and Ceramics School in Nexø, part of the Royal Danish Academy, whose "Crafts in Glass and Ceramics" programme remains active with fully equipped workshops in 2025/2026.

Two annual events are worth building a visit around:

• Bornholm's Art Route (Kunstrunde): held around Ascension Day, 14–16/17 May 2026. Around 59 artists open their studios, with free admission to the workshops. A companion group exhibition runs from 24 April to 25 May 2026 at Svanekegaarden.
• Bornholm Craft Weeks: main period 4–10 September 2026, overlapping with the island's culture week through to around 20 September. Most of the programme is free to attend, though individual workshops may charge a fee.

If you're travelling without a car, the main glass towns are easy to reach by bus in summer: the BAT summer routes 7 and 8 link Rønne, Hasle, Gudhjem, Svaneke, Nexø and Balka from around June to the end of September. For further event ideas on the island, see the overview of Events on Bornholm, and for addresses to browse, the guide to Shopping on Bornholm.