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History and heritage

One of the oldest landmarks in the country  "Húsið" stands in the heart of Eyrarbakki and is the legal domicile of the past in Árnessýsla.

Here was a forum for forward-thinking thinking in the upper part of the 19th century when the Icelandic nation's struggle for independence took off.

 

The house was a cultural center where music and art were at the forefront, as well as the renowned initiative in the field of education and other national languages.  Visit to Byggðasafn Árnesinga: Húsið, Sjóminjasafnið and Kirkjubær leave no one untouched. See husid.com

The house without quotation marks and with a specific branch

For a long time, Húsið stood out above all other residential buildings in Eyrarbakki, but the majority of Eyrarbakki's residents lived in low-rise turf farms. The house was therefore well into the 19th century, unlike all other residential buildings in Eyrarbakki, built of wood, on two floors with a cockpit ceiling. There was no reference to a cottage. There was also a certain reverence and respect for naming the building by this simple name "The House".

 

 

The house  is an abbreviation of the name Kaupmannshúsið. It was the home of the merchants and employees of Eyrarbakkaverslun from the year of construction 1765 to 1927. In the census from 1801 there is talk of Kaufmannshuus  in the Census of 1816, the building is called Kaupmannshús  and in all housekeeping books from 1840 to the 20th century. The house was the center of culture east of Hellisheidi and one of the largest mansions in the country for 70 years or from the time when Guðmundur Thorgrímsen and his wife, Sylvía Thorgrímsen, moved there in 1847 and until the couple's son-in-law, Peter Nielsen, store manager, and his wife Eugenia resigned. in the House 1916.  

 

 

Cultural influences from the House and its inhabitants were diverse. Guðmundur Thorgrímsen and others founded the Eyrarbakki Primary School in 1852, which is the oldest operating primary school in the country. Guðmundur was considered a fair and popular store manager and brought about many progress issues.

 

His family contributed to the spread of music culture throughout the district, but in the House he played organ, guitar and piano, which is now the property of Byggðasafn Árnesingar. Bjarni Pálsson, the father of the composer Friðrik Bjarnason, studied with Sylvía Thorgrímsen and her daughter Sylvía and later taught many people to play the organ.

 

In the House, Páll Ísólfsson heard Eugenia Nielsen and her daughter Guðmundur play the piano and was both "surprised and happy about these tones".

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