Hafnarfjörður Museum is divided over several buildings. Start at the main building, Pakkhúsið , with displays on the history of Hafnarfjörður, and a small toy museum in the attic. They provide information on the whole complex.
Next door, Sívertsen Hús is a beautiful 19th-century home belonging to merchant Bjarni Sívertsen, once the most important man in Hafnarfjörður. It’s decked out with period pieces – a piano, rich drapes, woven wallpaper, mahogany furniture, delicate crockery and silver spoons.
To take on board the huge contrast between Bjarni’s lifestyle and the typical impoverished Icelander’s, you can visit another home from the same period – the tiny restored fishing hut Siggubær , next to the park at Hellisgerði.
Beggubúð presents a shop laid out as it was in 1906; Bookless Bungalow was once the home of two Scottish brothers heavily involved in Hafnarfjörður’s fishing industry, and now contains an exhibition on fishing.
