Tales of the Table · Tales of the Table
Sjálfstæðishúsið við Austurvöll (1946–1963) – Lost Tables
The front house at Thorvaldsensstræti 2 was built in 1878 by Helgi Helgason, carpenter, composer and brass-band pioneer, and first held Reykjavík's school for young women; the Independence Party bought it in 1941 and added a rear ballroom for about 500 guests, dedicated in spring 1946 with the Reykj
The front house at Thorvaldsensstræti 2 was built in 1878 by Helgi Helgason, carpenter, composer and brass-band pioneer, and first held Reykjavík's school for young women; the Independence Party bought it in 1941 and added a rear ballroom for about 500 guests, dedicated in spring 1946 with the Reykjavík Brass Band and the opera singer Pétur Á. Jónsson. It held dances every night except the 'dry' Wednesdays and, unusually for the time, had a liquor licence, so crowds would cross Austurvöllur when Hótel Borg closed early. Aage Lorange's seven-piece band was the house band for its first eight years and played the hugely popular cabarets and revues, followed from 1954 by the B.G. Quartet of Björn R. Einarsson and Gunnar Egilson and bands led by Björn R. Einarsson and Svavar Gests; Sveinn Ásgeirsson also recorded radio programmes there. As social habits changed attendance fell, and after a renovation in 1962 it held dances only at weekends. In 1963 the party put the hall up for rent and that autumn it reopened as Sigtún.
Rebuilt ballroom reopened in 2023 as Sjálfstæðissalurinn
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