Djúpavík () is úpavía small village in the North-West of Iceland. It is located at the head of Reykjarfjörður on the Strandir coast in the Westfjords region (Vestfirðir), in the municipality of Árneshreppur.
It is approximately 70 km away from Hólmavík (the nearest settlement of any account), 280 km from Ísafjörður and 340 km from the country's capital Reykjavík. At present it only consists of seven houses, a hotel and the ruins of a herring factory. It can be reached by car via road 643 or by plane via the nearby Gjögur Airport.
History of settlement
Before 1917
Prior to 1917, the area around Djúpavík hosted farmsteads for hundreds of years. Around 1916 only one family lived there.
1917-1934
The village of Djúpavík was first settled in 1917 when Elías Stefánsson built a herring salting factory there. Guðjón Jónsson moved to Djúpavík in 1917 with his wife Krístín Guðmundsdóttir and three children to serve as the factory's supervisor. They were the village's first residents. That year brought many challenges to the herring industry in Iceland. There were shortages of fuel oil and salt, and the import price of coal and other supplies rose sharply. Both cod and herring catches were small. In the following year, the Armistice of 11 November 1918 led to reduced demand for exports from Iceland. The enterprise went bankrupt in 1919. Although the business was briefly taken over by others, the site was abandoned during the 1920s. Guðjón stayed on at the factory until 1921.
1934-1983
In 1934, a decline in demand for salted fish led to new investments in factories that could produce valuable herring oil. This year saw the resettlement of Djúpavík. The decision to establish Djúpavík Ltd. was made at Hótel Borg in Reykjavík on September 22, 1934. Because financing was difficult to obtain in Iceland, Djúpavík Ltd. sent representatives to Sweden to negotiate a loan to build a new herring factory. Solberg Bank in Stockholm loaned the company 400,000 Swedish krona.
Guðmundur Guðjónsson, an engineer, designed the factory and oversaw its construction. The new factory was built, and at 90 meters (300 ft) in length it was the largest concrete building in Iceland and one of the largest in Europe. There were no roads to Djúpavík so all supplies arrived by ship. Despite the harsh conditions, the construction was completed within the span of just one year and the factory was operational by July 1935. It was one of 12 new herring oil and meal factories in Iceland. However, the Djúpavík factory was unique. It was the first fully automated fish factory in Europe, with conveyor belts running from dock to basement storage rooms, then to coal-fired steam cookers, oil-extraction presses, coal-fired dryers, and meal grinders. Powerful electric fans then blew the hot fish meal through ducts that passed outside the factory for cooling and finally to chutes in the upper level where 100 kg (220 lb) meal bags were filled for transport. Electricity was generated by four German-built diesel engines salvaged from submarines and an Icelandic guard ship. The 60-tonne boiler used to generate steam for cooking was also salvaged from a ship. Initial worries that the catches would not meet requirements proved unfounded and during its early years the enterprise boomed, bringing improved financial status and living standards to the whole region.
Guðmundur Guðjónsson was the factory director from 1936, until the factory ceased operations in 1954. His wife was Ragnheiður Jörensdóttir Hansen. Their adopted daughter María Guðmundsdóttir (filmmaker) became Miss Iceland.
Herring catches started to decline after 1944, with a sharp drop in 1948 (when there were almost no catches for two years) and, despite attempts to keep the enterprise running by processing other fish besides herring, the factory closed in 1954 while Djúpavík Ltd. was officially dissolved in 1968. Some residents remained until about 1980.
1984-present
In 1984 Ásbjörn Þorgilsson, the grandson of a former Djúpavík resident, and his wife Eva Sigurbjörnsdóttir bought the herring factory, intending to repair it and start a fish breeding program. They chose instead to renovate the women's dormitory for use as a hotel to support increasing tourism in the area. Over the years, business increased, with significant growth after 2010. Ásbjörn and Eva have taken care to preserve the cultural heritage of the site and the environment. As of 2016, Hotel Djúpavík was "the only eco-friendly tourism service in Strandir...." During this time, they also made repairs to prevent further deterioration of the factory and other buildings.