First Music Venue in Iceland - Reykjavik, Iceland
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 64° 08.560 W 021° 56.427
27W E 454236 N 7113250
The Hljómskálinn built in 1923 as a music venue gave it's name to the park it is located in- Hljómskálagarður.
Waymark Code: WMNE5J
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 02/25/2015
Views: 6
A sign near the building informs us that this first music venue is located in the first planned park in Iceland:
""Hljómskálagarður was Reykjavik's first formally-planned park.
The idea of making a park at the southern end of the Lake
was first suggested in th early 19th century, but it was not
until 1901 that the town council set land aside for that
purpose. In 1908 Knud Zimsen (later mayor) and Danish
architect Frederik Kiorboe submitted a design proposal for
the park to the town council.
Also on the initiative of Knud Zimsen, refuse and ash was
used as landfill for the construction of Skothusvegur, a road
and bridge crossing the Lake. This was not entirely popular,
due to the stench of the refuse. Skothusvegur was completed
in 1920, and a new dumpsite was opened at the end of the
Lake. This was to be the foundation of the Hljómskálagarður
park.
In 1914 the first trees were planted to the west and south
of the Lake; 400 birch saplings, which initially grew slowly.
Hljómskálinn, the pavilion from which the park derives its
name (Pavilion Park) was built in 1923. It was the first building
in Iceland constructed specifically as a venue for music. The
Reykjavik Brass Band has been based there since it was built.
The intention was that the band would play on the roof on
fine days. Iceland's first music school for instrumentalists
operated in the pavilon 1922-4, and the Reykjavik Music
College was founded there in 1930.
In 1931 Icelandic-Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's self-
portrait (the first public sculpture in Iceland) was transferred
to the park, and in 1947 Einar Jonsson's sculpture of romantic
poet Jonas Hallgrimsson.
In the 1950s, many more trees were planted in the park and
it was redesigned after 1956."
FIRST - Classification Variable: Place or Location
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1923
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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