Klambratún Park

Concert in Klambratún Park in 1988, protesting the apartheid regime in South Africa. Megas and Björk on stage. Photo: Jóhann A. Kristjánsson

The Klambratún Park occupies land in the district of Norðurmýri, formerly divided into smallholdings under copyhold (inheritable perpetual lease). The Norðurmýri marsh was a significant source of peat (for fuel), particularly during World War II, when imported coal was in short supply. In 1925 a farmstead was built here by physician and town councillor Maggi Júl. Magnús. He named it Klömbrur after the estate of Klömbrur in Vestur—Húnavatnssýsla, North Iceland, where he had family roots. The property was sold in 1934 to Christian Christensen, a Dane who settled in Iceland in 1931 with his Icelandic wife Ólöf Ólafsdóttir. They kept ten cows and sold the milk, which was delivered to people’s homes by horse-cart. Christensen subsequently operated an abattoir, a smokery and a meat shop on the farm. The farm buildings were demolished in 1965.

In 1946 the Reykjavík municipal authorities purchased the land, which was then used for allotments where children grew vegetables during the summer holidays between 1948-58. The idea of creating a public park first arose in the late 1950s, and was put into practice a decade later.

The park was designed by landscape architect Reynir Vilhjálmsson. Designed in a modern style, the garden was influenced by Nordic trends. Klambratún Park is a popular place for outdoor activities and social gatherings. Open-air concerts and other events have been held there.

Kjarvalsstaðir, one of the Reykjavík Art Museum galleries, named after the famous Icelandic painter Jóhannes S. Kjarval, opened in the Park in 1973.

The name of Klambratún Park was changed to the grander Miklatún Park (“Great Park”) in 1964. The original name was restored in 2010.

Aerial photograph of Klambratún fields in 1949. The farmstead of Klambrar can be seen in the middle of the field