About us
We are two sisters, Hilde and Gunn, who both are very passionate about Christmas and what it offers both when it comes to tradition and quality time with family. We are born and raised in Åkrehamn on Karmøy – which is known for having the most beautiful beach in Norway.
Hilde has been making her original nisser since the early 80s, and it has been her great passion and hobby ever since. Gunn, who has always had great faith in Hilde and her nisser, for a long time wanted to find a solution for all the people, who had to spend years on Hilde’s waiting list. Her idea was for them to work together, and create designer nisser based on Hilde’s original Norwegian, fjøsnisser. Hilde finally said yes to this, and in January 2017 we started Dahlnissen.
Our dream is to show Hilde’s unique nisser to the whole world.
We are two sisters, Hilde and Gunn, who both are very passionate about Christmas and what it offers both when it comes to tradition and quality time with family. We are born and raised in Åkrehamn on Karmøy – which is known for having the most beautiful beach in Norway.
Hilde has been making her original nisser since the early 80s, and it has been her great passion and hobby ever since. Gunn, who has always had great faith in Hilde and her nisser, for a long time wanted to find a solution for all the people, who had to spend years on Hilde’s waiting list. Her idea was for them to work together, and create designer nisser based on Hilde’s original Norwegian, fjøsnisser. Hilde finally said yes to this, and in January 2017 we started Dahlnissen.
Our dream is to show Hilde’s unique nisser to the whole world.
Our beautiful nostalgic wooden boxes can also be used to put the nisse on top. On the bottom of the box there is some information about the designer, and inside the lid there is a photo of the Dahl-family member the nisse is named after.
We are first and foremost launching our brand in Norway, but in some time we want to introduce Dahlnissen in other countries. We believe it is about time the Norwegian fjøsnisse got its place in the spotlight, and have great faith that such a playful and headstrong creature is missed in many countries. We are doing our very best to deliver the best quality, so that our nisser can be inherited for many generations to come.
We wish to recreate our entire family, and so we will be designing new nisser every year. The goal is ultimately to make an exclusive, collectible series while at the same time maintain Norwegian design as well as our cultural heritage in an elegant, yet traditional way.
Every Dahlsnissen will only be created as limited edition.
The Designer Hilde Dhal
The magic of Christmas has captivated me ever since I was a little girl. The cosy time of advent from my childhood, are memories I will be taking with me for the rest of my life. Tradition is very important to our family, and when the smell of traditional Norwegian pinnekjøtt is spreading throughout the house, it is finally Christmas eve. Childhood memories such as the knocking on the door, while we were sitting trembling with joy and excitement, will never be forgotten. The guests were many, and we were almost sitting on top of each other. They always had fun knocking just before Santa came, and we jumped with thrill every time. Little did I know, that this was the guy I would be taking with me through the span of life.
Now, as an adult I can still feel this growing joy spreading throughout my body as Christmas approaches. We start Advent early on and enjoy our family time together. My daughter loves to bake, and so we always plan which cookies we’ll be making. As mother as daughter, seems to fit quite well in our family <3
I feel so fortunate to be creating nisser all year around. If I get tired of it? Not at all, it is amazing – imagine being in the loving spirit of Christmas, all year around.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve loved creating my own designs. Everything I create must have my mark on it. Drawing and painting I’ve been doing for as long as I can remember. I also learned knitting and sowing from my dear mother early on, and my darling grandmother taught me how to crocket.
Faces have always fascinated me, and it was in the early 1980’s I started sculping with different materials. I was lucky, and got to do attend many courses in the home of the well known doll-sculptor, Sissel B.Skille. I absolutely loved creating these little, original, amazing creatures. One of a kind nisser.
My traditional, Norwegian fjøsnisser have now charmed their way into both Norwegian and foreign homes.
I have now created a new series with designer nisser. This exclusive collection of Dahlnisser are made of high quality, so that they can be inherited for generations to come. I hope you will enjoy my nisser and welcome them into your home.
Sincerly, Hilde Dahl.
The history our concept is built upon
In Norway there has always been many farms, with beautiful traditional barns.
Now a days fewer and fewer of these old farms are active, and as a consequence many of the barns are being torn down.
According to old, Norwegian legends there are nisser living in the barns – and now they are becoming homeless. Our wish is to look for the entire Dahlnisse family, and find good, new homes for them.
We found the first ones Christmas of 2017, Krister and Andrea, named after Hilde’s two children. The Christmas of 2018, the nisse girl Alida came along, named after Gunn’s daughter. With her the nisse boy Oscar, who is named after everyone’s God child and the youngest out of the Dahlnisse family.
We are hoping to continue looking for our distant relatives in the time to come. Klara and Kalle are the great grandparents of Krister, Andrea and Alida. Our hope is to find them, adding them as the next nisse additions in the Dahlnisse family. All our nisse-relatives will need new homes it the times coming.
Thank you so much for choosing to house a homeless Dahlnisse, so that our dreams of creating more additions to our family may continue.
Big nisse-hug from the Dahl sisters.
