Icelands Sovereign Day
Iceland used to be part of Norwegian and later on Danish monarchs. Here is a picture of a list of foreign kings and queens. It can found at our exhibition Heart of Iceland.
Conservation and Sovereignty
We have celebrated sovereignty since 1918 when agreed up on after quite some negotiation between Iceland and Denmark. There were several committees who both met in Denmark and Iceland. On one of the meetings the committee took a day off and visited Þingvellir. Just to get the fresh air and enjoy the rich history of the old assembly site. Already then Þingvellir was frequently visited as transport and roads were getting better from Reykjavík in all directions.
As part of working on new self image for Iceland and the nation was an idea to establish a national park. Ideas like this started to spread and talked about in the beginning of the 20th century. And those who were for protection looked closely at Þingvellir as the first place to be protected as a national park.
At a meeting of the Students’Association on 6 December 1918
Guðmundur Davíðsson delivered an address on the importance of establishing at Thingvellir “a national
park, such as exist in the New World.” A National Park committee of three people was elected. Later on the same Guðmundur Davíðsson would become the first director of the national park.
The Student Association held a meeting were the first speaker was Guðmundur Davíðsson, later Þingvellir national park´s first director. The subject was about Þingvellir and it´s possible protection.
Þingvellir Þjóðgarður