Höfn () or Höfn í Hornafirði () is an Icelandic fishing town in the southeastern part of the country. It lies near Hornafjörður fjord.
The town, the second largest in the southeastern part of Iceland, offers scenic views of Vatnajökull (the largest ice cap in Europe by volume). The community was formerly known as Hornafjarðarbær between 1994 and 1998.
Geography
Höfn is located on a peninsula in the southeast of Iceland. The name Höfn means harbour and it is a fishing port surrounded on three sides by the sea, with beaches on a long shoreline to the southeast. Shoals and glacial rivers traverse this area with many shifting lagoons and sand reefs being formed. Höfn is surrounded by several small islands to the east of the town, the largest of which is Mikley , followed by Krókalátur and Hellir .
Nearby areas include Suðursveit (the birthplace of Þórbergur Þórðarson), Öræfasveit, Lón , Mýrar and Nes . In Nes there is a small village called Nesjahverfi. Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, is about from Höfn along the south coast. The headland of the town is called the Ingólfshöfði, which is high and (in a direct line) from the town. Sea birds such as skuas, guillemots, fulmar and puffins can be seen from the headland.
History
Höfn was founded by the merchant Ottó Tuliníus in 1897 who relocated a trading place which had been established in 1861 from Papós, an area 15 kms northwest of Höfn, to the present site of the town. Höfn had 300 inhabitants in 1946. An economic boom started after the construction of the bridge Hornafjarðarbrú in 1961, and with a length of 255 metres the bridge was the second largest bridge in Iceland at that time. Höfn attained municipal status on 31 December 1988 and had 1 647 inhabitants in 1989. Höfn and the community of Nesjahreppur were united on 12 July 1994 under the name Hornafjarðarbær . On 6 June 1998 Hornafjarðarbær, Bæjarhreppur , Borgarhafnarhreppur and Hofshreppur were united to form the new municipality of Sveitarfélagið Hornafjörður .
Economy
The main economic activities in Höfn are fishing and tourism. Fishing involves both sea fishing and processing and packaging in the factories; one major fish processing factory, Skinney-Þinganes is one of the largest fish factories in the eastern part of Iceland, which employs a large number of people. The main production of these factories is bacaloa (saltfish) and processed lobster. Herring and capelin are also processed. Ten large and a number of smaller boats operate from Höfn. During the summer tourist season, trips are organised to the nearby Vatnajökull glacier. The surrounding area has served as a filming location for feature films including the James Bond movies Die Another Day and A View to a Kill, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and Batman Begins. Recently a song in the 2015 Bollywood movie "Dilwale" has been shot in the surrounding areas.
Culture
A cultural highlight of the town is the annual Humarhátíð (a lobster festival) held on the first weekend of July. During the summer season, the Glacier Exhibition is held in the old supermarket building. Hafnarkirkja is a modern protestant church for 200 persons which was inaugurated on 28 July 1966. Kirkja heilagrar fjölskyldu og heilags Jean-Marie Vianney is a small modern Roman Catholic church which was inaugurated on 7 September 2013.
Höfn contains several museums, including an exhibition about Vatnajökull National Park in Gamlabúð which has a variety of displays on the geology, ecology and history of the glacier. Listasafn Svavars Guðnasonar is a museum of art which was inaugurated in the town hall in 2011.