If you’ve ever seen pictures of Greenland (or considered visiting there), you’ve likely come to love the lively-colored, picturesque houses that sit on a blanket of fresh, white snow. These red, green, yellow, blue, and black wooden structures are common along the coastlines and villages of Greenland. 

The vivid painting isn’t just limited to houses. Many businesses, like restaurants and small shops, are also wooden and painted brightly.

But why do Greenlanders have such colorful homes? It turns out there’s a reason!

According to the country’s official travel website, Visit Greenland, people painted their houses in different colors according to the societal functions the residents had in their town. That made it easier for people to find who they needed to see or where they needed to go.

For instance, red buildings symbolized a church or school. They might also be places where a teacher or minister lived. Nuuk Cathedral, the Church of Our Savior, is painted red. Built in 1849, the church is one of the oldest buildings in the city.

A yellow building meant the resident was a doctor, nurse, or other health care professional. Hospitals also used yellow in their exterior facades.

A painted green house signified that the resident was a mechanic or worked in the electrical or telecommunication industry. Blue houses were for fisheries and their employees. Finally, a black building was for police stations.

Greenland’s landscape of colorful homes and buildings didn’t exist until the colonial era, which started during the mid-1800s. Before that time, most residents resided in peat homes assembled from rocks, land, and materials obtained from the sea.

When the colonial era set in, northern European countries like Denmark and Norway sent the materials for wooden houses to Greenland. The houses were often assembled in their originating countries, then taken apart, only to be rebuilt once they arrived at their Greenland destination.

While many colorful colonial houses still exist, there are a growing number of apartment buildings, particularly in Nuuk. Unfortunately, most of the apartment blocks aren’t as attractive as the traditional homes. Still, they allow more people to live in the center of town, which is helpful during the long winter when traveling can be hazardous.

Today, homeowners can paint their homes whatever color they like. They no longer adhere to the red, yellow, green, blue, and black color systems. 

Sources:

[1] Architecture in Greenland – [Visit Greenland]