Árnessýsla Heritage Museum

The history of the Árnessýsla Heritage Museum began in 1953, almost 70 years ago. In the beginning, it mainly held objects from the old farming community, with its emphasis on farming, trade and the fishing industry until mechanization. During these 70 years, of course, the emphasis has changed, and now more emphasis is placed on the daily life and households until the middle of the last century. The museum’s first home was in Selfoss, but it was moved to Eyrarbakki in 1995. “Húsið á Eyrarbakki, the oldest house in South Iceland, was built in 1765 and is our main jewel”, says Lýður Pálsson, historian and museum director for 30 years. “These beautiful and unique buildings should be enjoyed, as they are, in fact, the main exhibits. Therefore, special emphasis is placed on the history of Húsið

The House – and its cultural significance in recent centuries.”

When the merchant Jens Lassen built The House in 1765, Eyrarbakki was probably the largest trading place in

Iceland. This was towards the end of the Danish-Icelandic Trade Monopoly, which lasted from 1602 to 1787. During this period, the citizens of the country were not allowed to trade with other merchants or foreign ships. At the time, it seemed that Eyrarbakki would be made the capital of Iceland, as it had a much larger population than Reykjavík.

Two other museums in Eyrarbakki belong to Árnessýsla Heritage Museum. The Maritime Museum, as Eyrarbakki was, through the centuries, one of the largest trading ports in the country, and Kirkjubær, an Icelandic family home built in 1920, where we go back a hundred years and see how ordinary poor people lived. Both museums are within walking distance of The House.

The well-known Icelandic painter Ásgrímur Jónsson (1876-1958) and the women of Eyrarbakki will be the focus of Byggðasafn Árnesinga in 2023. The spring exhibition, which will be ongoing until June, focuses on the childhood of Ásgrímur, who was born in a small hut of poor farmers in 1876. Ásgrímur Jónsson was born in Árnessýsla 1876, from confirmation age he was a helping hand in Húsið in Eyrarbakki. There he got to know Danish merchant culture, acquired his first watercolors and started following the path of art. The museum's summer exhibition, which opens on June 17, is about many aspects of the lives and work of women in Eyrarbakki and is based on texts and relevant objects. The women often worked under the guidance of their husbands, but individual women took unconventional paths and rebelled against male rule. Other women did their work impeccably in silence, and the exhibition sheds light on their lives in a small village in the south of Iceland.

It only takes 45 minutes to drive from Reykjavík, or 15 minutes from the Ring Road from Selfoss. The museums in Eyrarbakki are open every day from May 1 - September 30 at 10-17 and by agreement at other times.

You can learn about the museum on the website www.byggdasafn.is and we are on Facebook and Instagram.