Eldheimar

The 1973 Eruption

In the early hours of 23 January 1973, a volcanic fissure tore open on the eastern edge of Heimaey, the only inhabited island in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago off Iceland's south coast. Without any warning, lava began shooting nearly 150 metres into the sky, and within hours the entire population of roughly 5,300 people was evacuated to the mainland by fishing boats. Over the following months, the eruption buried approximately 400 buildings under metres of ash and tephra, extended the island's landmass, and created the new volcanic cone now known as Eldfell. Remarkably, only one person lost their life, a testament to the speed and efficiency of the overnight evacuation.

The Excavated House

When archaeologists began digging into the buried neighbourhood in 2005, they found that beneath the thick layers of ash, time had effectively stopped. Tables were still set. Clothes lay folded by radiators. Personal belongings sat exactly where they had been left on the night the eruption began. The house at Gerdisbraut 10, which now forms the centrepiece of the museum, was meticulously uncovered over several years. Petrified cascades of ash still pour from its window frames, and through the glass you can see lampshades, curtains, and furniture frozen in place for over half a century.

The Museum

Eldheimar opened in May 2014, purpose-built around the excavated house ruin. The ground floor exhibition surrounds the house on all sides, using photography, film footage, personal accounts, and recovered artefacts to tell the story of the eruption and its aftermath. A large interactive wheel demonstrates how the lava flow spread across the town over the weeks and months of the eruption. Screens show interviews with survivors who recall the moment the fire engines sounded their horns to signal the evacuation.

The second floor shifts focus to the formation of Surtsey, the volcanic island that emerged from the sea just south of Heimaey in 1963, a decade before the Eldfell eruption. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Surtsey provides scientists with a unique opportunity to study how life colonises new land, and the exhibition covers this process in detail.

Visiting Eldheimar

The museum stands on the eastern outskirts of Heimaey town, directly beneath the dark slopes of Eldfell. A natural pairing is to visit the museum first to understand the eruption's history, then walk the 700 metres to the Eldfell trailhead and hike to the summit of the crater. The ascent takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes and offers panoramic views over the town, the harbour, and the surrounding ocean. In places, the ground near the top is still warm to the touch from residual geothermal heat.

The museum building includes a cafe on the upper level with views toward the mountains, and a small gift shop stocking books, maps, and locally made souvenirs. Audio guides are available in several languages at the reception desk, and these add considerable depth to the visit by providing detailed commentary at each exhibit station.