Reyk­javík City Mu­seum
Our His­tory

The exhibition, is about the history of the Icelandic fisheries, from the time when rowing boats gave way to large fishing vessels in the late 19th century, through to the 21st century. The story is told from the perspective of Iceland’s biggest fishing port, Reykjavík, and vibrantly presented through objects, text, pictures and games. The value of fish to the Icelandic nation cannot be overstated. Over the centuries fish has been a staple of the Icelandic diet, and one of the nation’s most important exports. The Fish & Folk exhibition is built around the central character of this history: the fish itself. The fish is followed from the ocean, into the net, on board the boat, onto dry land and to its final destination – the plate. Reykjavík Maritime Museum is part of Reykjavík City Museum.

Nature's transformative process is one of our greatest teachers in life. It has an eternal appeal and reminds us of infinite possibilities and at once of the unpredictability of life. Transformations are part of a normal growth process and life chain, but in recent times different kinds of transformations are taking place in nature due to global warming. These changes have become very real in our time, we not only know about them, but we feel them. We see differences in the volume of glaciers, we feel unusual climatic changes and we see the ecosystem changing. Many of us feel powerless at the thought of how we can prevent further global warming, what we can do. - Birta Guðjónsdóttir, curator and artist

The guide takes guests to all the main houses of the museum and tells their story. Árbær was an established farm well into the 20th century, and the museum opened there in 1957. Árbær is now an open-air museum with more than 20 buildings which form a town square, a village and a farm. Most of the buildings have been relocated from central Reykjavik. The Museum seeks to give an idea of architecture and way of life in Reykjavik in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each house contains either an independent historical exhibition or a typical home from a specific period. The museum also houses old-fashioned workshops of typical facilities, technology and tools.