Álftanes

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Álftanes

The municipality of Álftanes ([ 'aul̥taˌnɛːs ], isl. Sveitarfélagið Álftanes ) was one of the municipalities of Iceland until December 31, 2012 . It was located in the capital region ( Höfuðborgarsvæðið ) of the capital Reykjavík . Álftanes has been part of Garðabær since 2013 .

On January 1, 2011, the community had 2,484 inhabitants. The area of ​​the municipality was 5 km². This is where Bessastaðir is located , the official seat of the Icelandic head of state .

Surname

The name partly comes from the original settlement, a headland (isl. Nes ). álft corresponds to the German word swan . So the name means swan peninsula .

location

The peninsula Álftanes and thus the municipality is located between the fjords Hafnarfjörður (fjord) in the south and Skerjafjörður in the north.

Neighboring municipalities are Hafnarfjörður in the south, Garðabær and Kópavogur in the west , beyond Skerjafjörður in the north-west Reykjavík and in the north Seltjarnarnes .

geology

A moraine stretches across the peninsula . This shows the greatest expansion of Icelandic glaciers during the Ice Age . It comes from the Younger Dryas Period and is around 10,200 years old.

history

Even the official first settler of Iceland, Ingólfur Arnarson , is said to have laid claim to the land.

The land around Álftanes was densely populated in the past. In earlier times it was a well-known fishing village.

Bessastaðir

Bessastaðir (2015).

First mentions of Bessastaðir can be found in the Íslendinga saga , mentioning that the reason belonged to Snorri Sturluson .

As early as 1241, immediately after Snorri's death, the property became the property of the King of Norway and remained in royal possession after 1380, when Iceland was annexed to Denmark, and until modern times until the end of the 18th century. During this time, the seat of the royal governor was located here, who organized the defense of the country from here around 1627, during the Turkish invasion.

Then the first Latin school in the country was established there, but it was later moved to Reykjavík. This was followed by changing owners, including the poet Grímur Thomsen . In 1941 the property went to the state of Iceland, which from 1944 used it as a residential property and, in addition to a town house, also as the official residence of the respective state president.

Eyvindarstaðir farm

The poet and scientist Benedikt Gröndal (1826-1907) grew up on the farm Eyvindarstaðir in Álftanes in the first half of the 19th century .

Birth of the municipality of Álftanes

The parish was established in 1878 when the parish Álftaneshreppur was divided into the two parishes Garðahreppur (now Garðabær) and Bessastaðahreppur . Bessastaðahreppur was renamed Sveitarfélagið Álftanes in 2004 . Since January 1, 2013, Álftanes is part of the town of Garðabær .

Town twinning

In Iceland there are also town twinning within the own country.

See also

Web links

Commons : Álftanes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Breyting á sveitarfélagaskipan á Íslandi frá 1950 ( MS Word ; 411 kB)
  2. ^ HU Schmid: Dictionary Icelandic-German. Buske, Hamburg 2001, 167
  3. ^ HU Schmid: Dictionary Icelandic-German. Buske, Hamburg 2001, 14
  4. ↑ Thor Thordarson, Armann Hoskuldsson: Iceland. Classic Geology in Europe 3. Terra, Harpenden 2002, 55
  5. ↑ cf. Off. Website of the municipality (English); Accessed July 1, 2011
  6. ↑ Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga og sérkenni. 1. bindi. Edited by T. Einarsson, H. Magnússon. Örn and Örlygur, Reykjavík 1989, 70f.
  7. ↑ a b c Vegahandbókin. Ed. Landmælingar Íslands. Reykjavík 2006, 205
  8. ↑ cf. Álftanes orðinn vinabær , Jökull , Snæfellsbær, 276 tbl., 6. árg., October 19, 2006 (PDF; 2.3 MB) (Icelandic); Accessed August 13, 2011