Bang & Olufsen Began With An Egg

There’s nothing more powerful than a mother’s devotion to her children. That was certainly true for Anna Olufsen, the mother of Svend Olufsen.

At the Bang & Olufsen museum, you’ll notice a small basket of eggs displayed beside the company’s first radio. The story behind them is a quiet but meaningful one.

While many people know that the first radios were produced at the Olufsen family farm, fewer know how some of the early parts were funded. When money was tight, Anna Olufsen would take the farm’s hens’ eggs to the train station and sell them to help pay for components.

In many ways, Anna Olufsen could be considered Bang & Olufsen’s first investor.

The eggs in the museum sit at the corner of the display next to that original radio. For many years, the museum used real eggs rather than knitted replicas. They remained untouched for decades—until a child accidentally dropped one a few years ago.

Before that incident, the eggs had become somewhat legendary… not just for the story they represent, but for the unmistakable scent that developed over time.