At age 23, newly educated wheelwright Johannes Rasmussen leaves Sjælland in Denmark for Stavanger, Norway to find work while he awaits visa for the USA. He is employed by builder Karl Sunde and is promoted to foreman 25 years old.

Johannes Rasmussen arrives in Moi for a construction job. Meets Tøri Annette Skjeggestad and get three sons; Nils in 1926, Leif in 1929 and Kåre in 1932. All of which spend their lives working in the company.

Rasmussen establishes Fjældhammer Trævarefabrikk. Manufactures windows, doors, stairs and other wood articles in the workshop for own construction jobs, and something unusual at the time, sells products to other builders.

Employs 25 men; builds houses from Jæren to Lista.

War breaks out. House building is halted. Most of the employees left to avoid being hired by the German occupants.

Johannes Rasmussen is arrested for ten days for refusing to work for the Germans. He is held in custody in Stavanger with other people from Lund.

Rasmussen’s son Leif takes over the management of the office.

A new workshop and storehouse for timber is constructed between the river and rail-road in Moi.

Johs. Rasmussen & Sønner new company name. NorDan Sving being produced, 1,600 units made over the course of a few years.

Kåre Rasmussen returns home after technical college and craft certificate, becomes general manager.

Johs. Rasmussen A/S is established by the father and three sons as owners. Johannes and Kåre spend most of their time designing a completely new window. Turnover reaches one million, zero profit. Development has to be done on a low budget. An annual salary is slightly less than NOK 10,000.

The NorDan Perfect prototype is completed, a ball-bearing mechanism is patented. In the first year 700 units are produced. The oldest son, Nils, travels around the country to sell windows. The largest order comes from Porsgrunn, 396 units.

Construction of the large factory halls begins. Each hall measures 1,600 square metres, ten halls in ten years. Youngest son Kåre sketches future layout for the factory, which has, by and large, been used until 2001. Eriksen Agentur A/S becomes distributor in the southern part of Norway, first sales office.

A/S Vinduselement fabrikk in Otta is acquired and rebuilt for production of NorDan windows.

Turnover reaches NOK 100 million and record profits. 50th anniversary is celebrated with a great festival.

214 000 enheter produsert. Salgsøkningen formidabel så NorDan har et halvt års leveringstid på meste. Kåret til «Årets markedsfører».

Johannes Rasmussen receives the order of St. Olav, knight 1st class.

Johannes Rasmussen dies April 18

Turnover NOK 180 million and nearly 440 employees. The bankrupt estate of Asbjørn Ege A/S in Egersund, the largest door factory in Norway, is acquired.

Johs. Rasmussen A/S receives the ISO-certificate as the first woodworking factory.

Tore Rasmussen takes over after Kåre Rasmussen as the general manager.

Nyseter Trevarefabrikk in Arneberg is purchased; the total number of employees in the Group is now over 700. The remaining plant premises in Otta is bought from the municipality on the 20th anniversary of the original acquisition.

Kåre Rasmussen receives the order of St. Olav, knight 1st class.

A large order to Russia pushes export sales to NOK 100 million. The NorDan museum opens.

The Group’s total turnover is NOK 643 million, with a profit of NOK 30 million. There are now 871 employees, 133 more than five years earlier. The British market becomes a priority. BorDörren AB is included in the Group. A statue of Johannes Rasmussen is unveiled outside the town hall by the Minister of Trade and Industry on August 15.

NorDan partners with family owned Carroll Joinery to distribute NorDan products in Ireland, with the formation of NorDan Vinduer Ltd. 

NorDan buys 50 % of ScanWin in Poland.

Another Swedish factory, TanumsFönster AB, is added to the Group.

NorDan celebrates its 80th anniversary; turnover reaches NOK 1.3 billion. The remaining 50 % of ScanWin in Poland is purchased. A new generation of windows, NTech Low Energy and Passive (U-value 1.2 W/m2K and 0.7 W/m2K respectively) is introduced and produced.

NorDan NTech LogoThe NorDan NTech Passive window is awarded with the Swan mark (Svanemerket), the official Nordic ecolabel. Norwegian building regulations requires a U-value of 1.2 W/m2K. Regulations allows for a transition period until August 1, 2009.

Great success with low energy window and Passiv window.

NTech is standard on all windows. Divided into NTech 1,2 / NTech 1,0 and NTech 0,7 Passiv. Focus on energy saving and eco friendly.