As Reykjavík expanded into a modern city, much of its earliest character risked being lost. Árbæjarsafn, the Árbær Museum, was established to keep a connection to the city’s roots alive. This open-air museum sits in what was once the countryside just a short distance from Reykjavík, but is now surrounded by the city’s steady sprawl.
A response to rapid change
Concerns grew in the mid-20th century that the city’s oldest buildings and ways of life might soon vanish forever. Calls for a museum began as early as 1942, eventually resulting in the founding of the Reykjavík Archives and Historical Collection in 1954. The director at the time, Lárus Sigurbjörnsson, began collecting artefacts reflecting daily life and major events in the city. Just a few years later, the city council decided to transform the abandoned Árbær farmstead into a museum space where old houses could be relocated and preserved.
Opened in 1957, Árbæjarsafn became both an archive for Reykjavík’s history and an ambitious outdoor reconstruction of the city’s earlier environment. By 1968, this effort had united with a local historical collection under one institution: the Árbær Museum. The role of municipal curator was established by the council in 1974, with the stewardship passing through several dedicated curators since.
Buildings tell the story of social change
Today, Árbæjarsafn’s grounds host buildings from different eras and neighbourhoods, each relocated or reconstructed to show a part of Reykjavík’s evolving story. The farm Árbær remains on its original spot, representing country life on the edge of the city. Alongside, visitors find a church relocated from Northern Iceland, a granary, labourers’ cottages, and houses reflecting the lives of both wealthy and working-class residents.
The former shop from Laugavegur, the city’s renowned main street, now greets entrants as the ticket office. A late-19th-century Catholic church, later used as a gym, stands beside the Boy Scout hut, the first ever built in Iceland. Other buildings include a jeweller’s workshop, a blacksmith’s house, and several stone houses that served as homes for landless workers in previous centuries. Even a Nissen hut from World War II and equipment like a gold drill tell tales of Reykjavík’s social and industrial past.
Árbæjarsafn also extends beyond its own grounds. In 2006, the museum opened a city-centre exhibition called Reykjavík 871±2, highlighting finds from archaeological digs. The museum’s work was recognised that same year with the Icelandic Museum Award.
From its beginnings as a way to protect disappearing heritage, Árbæjarsafn remains a living record of Reykjavík’s transformation from rural beginnings to modern city. Its carefully preserved buildings and ongoing exhibitions offer a window into the daily realities that shaped Iceland’s capital.
Sources
- Wikipedia
- Wikipedia (Icelandic) in Icelandic
