The Organ of Fríkirkjan in Reykjavík 100 years | Lára Bryndís Eggertsdóttir
Lutheran Free Church, Fríkirkjuvegur 5, 101 Reykjavík Directions
Sun Oct 25 2026 16:00
The Organ of Fríkirkjan in Reykjavík 100 years | Lára Bryndís Eggertsdóttir
Fríkirkjan in Reykjavík is celebrating the centenary of its organ with a series of concerts. The second concert in the series will take place on Sunday, 25 October at 16:00. Admission is free.
Concert series celebrating the centenary of the organ at Fríkirkjan in Reykjavík:
25 October at 16:00 – Lára Bryndís Eggertsdóttir
22 November at 16:00 – Björn Steinar Sólbergsson
29 November at 16:00 – Áki Ásgeirsson
20 December at 16:00 – Sigurður Flosason and Gunnar Gunnarsson
In early May 1926, 42 crates arrived in Iceland aboard the ship Lagarfoss from Germany. The cargo weighed 11 tonnes and contained a new organ for Fríkirkjan in Reykjavík. An organ builder from the Sauer organ factory in Frankfurt an der Oder accompanied the shipment. He installed the instrument together with Ísólfur Pálsson, an instrument maker and inventor, father of the composer and organist Páll Ísólfsson, and Pálmar, Ísólfur's son.
The fully installed organ cost 41,500 Icelandic krónur, equivalent to the price of two detached houses at the time, and was by far the largest musical instrument in Iceland. This was fitting, as Fríkirkjan was then the largest public assembly building in the country.
Páll Ísólfsson began working at Fríkirkjan that same autumn. The organ had been purchased to ensure that “a suitable organ would be available for Mr Páll to use in the church,” as stated in a letter from several Reykjavík residents who joined forces with the congregation's board to raise funds for the purchase.
In 1939, Páll became organist at Reykjavík Cathedral. His brother and former student, Sigurður Ísólfsson, succeeded him at Fríkirkjan. Sigurður was a trained watchmaker and took exceptional care in maintaining the instrument.
The organ at Fríkirkjan is the oldest pipe organ in Iceland still in regular use. It carries with it a fascinating history of Icelandic musical life, organ building and church history, dating back to 1926.