The Vestmannaeyjar Museum was opened in 1932. The instigator of the museum, and its driving force for several decades was Thorsteinn Th. Víglundsson. Thorsteinn realised that there was a danger of valuable cultural items being lost for ever if an immediate move was not made to preserve them.

The collection of objects began, and during the first years, museum items were stored in Thorsteinnīs house. Later, the collection was moved to the attic of the new Secondary School in Heimaey. In 1964, however, the museum was transferred to the second floor of the Sparisjóður Bank, and opened to the public.
The construction of a special museum building began on 15th June 1969, and was completed with the opening of the museum on 15th April 1978. (Prior to that date, the local library had also started operating in the building.)

When the museum moved to the Museum Building (Safnahúsið), it also took over the supervision of the Vestmannaeyjar Art Gallery. The town now has a collection of between 300 and 400 pieces of art.

The paintings are on display to the public in the museum itself, and also in various other municipal buildings in the town. From 1978, the museum has operated as a joint museum and art gallery. Over the years, a variety of special exhibitions have been put on in the museum.

Among the many interesting exhibitions in the past, we can mention a special exhibition of objects from Landlist, Icelandīs first natal clinic which was set up in 1847, and another exhibition related to the life of Hannes Jónsson, the foreman of the Gideon for forty three winter fishing seasons.

A special permanent display dealing with the volcanic eruptions in Surtsey (1963-1967) and Heimaey (1973) has also been set up. In addition to this, the museum operates popular walking excursions to historical sites on the island. Among the most valuable objects in the museum are the beam from the bell tower of the Landar church which the Turks burnt when they raided the islands in 1627, and a Turkish gun from the same period.

The museum also contains the oldest archaeological object to be found in Iceland, namely a Roman coin which was found in Skansinn in 1991. This is believed to have been minted in 225 A.D. The museum now possesses a total of roughly 1400 objects, and this collection is continually growing thanks to the kindness of the museumīs benefactors.

The present curator of the museum is Hlíf Gylfadóttir.
During the summer months, the museum is open daily from 11:00 to 17:00 p.m.
In winter the museum is open Friday and Saturday from 15:00 to 17:00 p.m.
Email: byggdasafn@vestmannaeyjar.is