Address from the City Antiquarian

The exhibition History of Reykjavík - Farm to City recounts the history of Reykjavík from the settlement of Iceland to the present day. This is part of the programme of Reykjavík - European City of Culture in the year 2000, which has sponsored the exhibition, which will be the main exhibition of Reykjavík Museum. Hence the intention is that all visitors to the museum, school students, Icelanders and foreign visitors, and Reykjavík people, start by seeing the exhibition, which will enable them to benefit more from the museum site as a whole. The exhibition employs the latest technology to bring history to life, and its principal sponsor has played an important role in this by the creation of the exhibition website.

This exhibition is the largest and most ambitious ever undertaken by Reykjavík Museum. It is the fruit of years of research in many fields, archaeological excavations on Viðey island and elsewhere, research into the history of the Innréttingar, items from the 19th and 20th century and the history of the city's development. A large number of people have been involved in the preparations, especially the exhibition board and other staff of Reykjavík Museum. I wish to thank all these people for an enjoyable collaboration. I also wish to thank the many specialists and experts who have contributed to the exhibition, and our sponsors.

Visitors to the Museum are hereby invited on an exciting journey through the history of Reykjavík. No doubt many will be surprised at the colourful and varied past of the city. We hope that the exhibition will awaken our visitors' interest, and that they will learn something of the history of our capital city and cultural heritage.
Welcome.

Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir,
City Antiquarian.