Granite Block Steps

The story of Gudnason Stone carving in Give - granite, tombstones and quality over three generations
The story of Gudnason stone and sculpture in Give through three generations begins with Olafur Gudnason traveling to Denmark in 1912. He moved to Give in 1916 and bought Give cement foundry which he operated for many years. Olafur became interested in the stonework, and in 1929 he sold the cement foundry to deal exclusively with the stonework. The leap to stone quarrying was obvious, when concrete was used with real granite at that time due to a lack of raw materials. The son Svend got the business in 1952. He was both enterprising and enterprising, and the company developed rapidly. But Svend's pursuit of perfection was not without pretty big stones on the road.
Turn, saw and sea stones
Svend wanted to be independent and in 1960 acquired a primitive stone saw. He had an exhibition of tombstones and experimented with cutting himself in stone at the family home in the middle of Give. As more space was needed for both exhibition and production, the planks were moved around the family grounds as the business expanded and part of the family's garden was included. Svend was ambitious and had ideas that went beyond the local aspect. He would be self-sufficient. There was rationing and monopoly on the raw materials from Bornholm. One had to stand with his hat in his hand to buy stones. So Svend discovered another opportunity. He used sea stones that were fished by fishing boats. Many shook their heads and mocked his attempts and experiments with the saw. But after two years of hard work in developing the saw and the technique, it finally succeeded in Svend's satisfaction. But he had to get better raw material.