Museums

Take a nice walk through town and check out the variety of museums.

The Center for Visual Arts was launched in January 2012 when The Akureyri Art Museum and The Cultural Center were merged. The Center is divided into three distinctly separate venues: The Akureyri Art Museum and the multipurpose facilities of Ketilhús (Kettle House) and Deiglan (Melting Pot) all located on the same street in the heart of Akureyri.

The Akureyri Drama Society was established in 1917 and has been run as a professional company since 1973. The company's permanent locale is the well known "Samkomuhús" (community centre) which was built in 1906 and has always played an important part in the town's social activities.

The aim of Akureyri Museum is the collection, preservation and study of objects and records relating to cultural history, especially such as may throw light upon the daily lives of people in the Eyjafjörður district and their industries.

As the name suggests, this is a museum relating to industry in Akureyri during the past few centuries, with a special emphasis on branches of industry and companies involved in such activities.

The relatives of the poet Davíð Stefánsson from Fagriskógur bequeathed to Akureyri Municipality the house at 6 Bjarkarstígur which the poet built and lived in until his death in 1964.

The objective of the archives is the collection and preservation of documents and other recorded sources from the history of the district, for use by administration, organisations and individuals.

The Nonni House was the childhood home of the writer and Jesuit priest Jón Sveinsson, who used the pen name Nonni. The house was built in 1850 and is today one of Akureyri´s oldest buildings.

Friðbjarnarhús now houses an exhibition of 20th century toys, owned by Guðbjörg Ringsted. Among other things one can see dozens of dolls and toy cars. On the upper floor is the old meeting room of the Independent Order of Good Templars, which donated the house to the Municipal Council of Akureyri in 2009.

The house Sigurhæðir accommodates the Memorial Foundation of the Reverend Matthías Jochumsson (1835-1920) who had the house built in 1903.

At the Aviation Museum in Akureyri, founded on 1 May 1999 and formally opened 24 June 2000, the story of aviation in Iceland is traced right up to the present time.

This new museum opened in May 2011, covers the history of motorcycles in Iceland the last 100 years. Motorcycles from all over, objects and artefacts relating to the history of motorcycles in Iceland in a stunning 800 square meter building, that was especially designed for the museum.

The Municipal Library in Akureyri is one of Iceland´s largest libraries. The Municipal Library is situated in a beautiful newly renovated building at Brekkugata 17.