Painting of Countess Henriette Danneskiold-Samsøe

In 1825, in the peat bog marsh area of Holmegaard, Danish Countess Henriette Danneskiold-Samsøe oversaw the creation of a glassworks that would become a proud Danish brand.

Recently widowed, the countess received the King of Denmark's permission to build the glassworks shortly after her late husband Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe died unexpectedly. It had been his dream to start the glassworks, but be died before the approval was granted.

In a move that was most unconventional at the time, the Countess chose to continue with the project despite being a single mother of 6 children.

The site was chosen in Holmegaard due to the adjacent peat bogs. The readily available peat would provide ample fuel to sustain the fire in the kiln required for glass blowing. 

The Glassworks manufactured green bottles to begin with but with expansion prioritised the production of clear glass. The Countess had a desire to create homewares such as wine glasses, and employed Bohemian glassmakers with fine skills to work within the factory.

A second glassworks was later established around 1850 in Copenhagen, called Kastrup, where it had closer access to shipping so imported coal could fire the furnaces instead of the dirty peat. All bottle production was eventually moved to Kastrup and Holmegaard concentrated on producing fine white glasswares.

By the 20th Century fine glass was being produced at both centres with the Artists spending their time between the two. Some glass series were produced solely at one glassworks and others were produced at both. Each glassworks retained its own name until 1965 when the two merged as one to become Kastrup and Holmegaard A/S.

Holmegaard came under the umbrella of the Royal Copenhagen group in 1985, until in 2008 it was taken over by Rosendahl Design Group. Rosendahl continues to manufacture Holmegaard glass today, though unfortunately

The old glassworks building in Holmegaard came under compulsory auction in March 2010 and is now a Danish museum of Crafts and Design housing an impressive collection of Danish glass, with over 42 000 pieces on display.