Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.1998, Page 80

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ÁRBÓK FORNLEIFAFÉLAGSINS
The archive material on Winstrup's journey, his drawings and proposals, along with
material on the rebuilding of the Cathedral, forrn - together with the architect’s travel
journal and two sketchbooks - the departure point for a description of his visit to
Reykjavík and of the httle town with its some 340 inhabitants. When Winstrup arrived
he was welcomed by the Chief Administrative OfBcer, Torkild Abraham Hoppe (1841-
47), who had undertaken inspection-visits in 1832-33 and had compiled a detailed report
on conditions in Iceland. In 1834 Prince Christian (later VIII) was sent there,
accompanied by the artist F.T.Kloss, who later exhibited works showing scenes of Iceland
painted during the visit.
In 1839 a Building Committee was set up in Reykjavík to establish rules for build-
ings. Five years later all 55 town properties were surveyed and valued in connection with
the reintroduction of the Alþing (parliament) in 1845.The town’s only stone buildings
were the Cathedral designed by Andreas Kirkerup and consecrated in 1797, and the
Chief Administrative Officer’s residence, which has been used for Government offices
since 1904. That house had originally been a prison, designed by G.D. Anthon in 1765.
The other houses were mainly tarred half-timbered houses with panel-cladding, on stone
foundations with plank-clad pitched roofs, most of them shipped ready-made írom Den-
mark.These houses were different from the traditional Icelandic turf houses which made
up almost all the houses in Iceland until after the beginning of this century.
From 1804 onwards the grammar school and seminary were situated at Bessastaðir,
but in 1838, after the Chief Administrative Officer, Carl Emil Bardenfleth, had written a
report in connection with a school reform, it was decided to move the school back to
Reykjavik.The plans for the school by the Royal Building Officer,Jörgen Hansen Koch,
are in the Danish State Archives. The two-storey building, in late neo-classicist style, was
produced in Norway by the timber-merchant Anton Carl Hartmann, shipped to Iceland
in 1844 and inaugurated in 1846.There is evidence that a drawing by Koch of a “Res-
idence in Iceland” is probably of Carl Franz Siemsen's merchant’s house, made by Hart-
mann in 1842, but pulled down in 1974.
During his stay in Iceland Winstrup made several excursions, some in particular with
the painter Emanuel Larsen, who was in Iceland at that time to take part in a scientific
expedition.Their longest excursion took thenr to Geysir and Thingvellir, where Winstrup
drew landscapes, the turf church and the ruins at the assembly site.
During his stay in Iceland Winstrup worked on three proposals for rebuilding the
Cathedral; they involved increasing its height either in brick or in timber, increasing the
space with a gallery and adding a chancel and porch. His final proposal was approved in
March 1847. That same sunrmer a team of craftsmen was sent, with Hans Heinrich
Schiitte as supervisor, to Iceland; the old church was demolished, except for the stone
walls. The new one was erected with a gallery borne on pillars, with iron railings, a flat
panelled ceiling, out-buildings and a new sacristy. Winstrup designed pews, the pulpit and
the other furnishings in late Empire style, characteristic of the period, and they were made
by master-joiner Hans Madsen in Copenhagen. A new altarpiece was painted by Theodor
Wagner, while Thorvaldsen's baptismal font, presented to the church in 1839, was
repositioned in the centre of the chancel. The Cathedral, rebuilt in light cement-rendered
brick with curved-framed iron windows, was consecrated in 1848 while Winstrup was on
a journey to Italy.The roof was made of slate and a modest wooden clock- and bell-tower
was erected above the west gable. In the second half of the 19th century Winstrups's
Cathedral served as a model for a number of Icelandic wooden churches.