Reykjavík Grapevine - mar 2023, Qupperneq 20

20 The Reykjavík
Grapevine 2/23
Best before:
March 2, 2023
i8 Grandi
Marshallhúsið
Grandagarður 20
101 Reykjavík
Iceland
info@i8.is
+354 551 3666
www.i8.is
20.01.23–20.12.23
Cast of Mind
B. Ingrid Olson
03.02.–07.05.2023
Breath on a Window
Sigga Björg
Sigurðardóttir
& Ásmundur
Sveinsson
Open daily
13h00–17h00
artmuseum.is
#reykjavikartmuseum
Ásmundarsafn
Sigtúni
105 Reykjavík
+354 411 6430
“One of Must-See
Exhibitions in
Scandinavia 2023”
according to
Vogue Magazine
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Travel doesn’t have to entail hitting
the road, hopping on a plane or
lacing up your hiking boots to trek
into remote destinations. There’s
something to be said for the stayca-
tion, or travelling in time by getting
to know the places you might see
every day a little better. With that
in mind, Elías Þórsson takes us on a
journey through the human history
of places right here in Reykjavík. It’s
a real trip.
Visitors to Reykjavík won’t find
a more perfectly situated accom-
modation than Hotel Borg, located
as it is on the same central square
flanked by parliament and the
national cathedral.
“Borgin,” as locals call it, opened
in 1930 and has since amassed a
curious history intrinsically linked
to the birth of Iceland as an inde-
pendent country, the development
of Reykjavík as a modern city and
the emergence of the country’s gay
rights movement.
A passion project for
the world’s first MMA
fighter
Early in the 20th century, Reykja-
vík was barely more than a village,
with a population of 30,000 and
few buildings that could be classed
as more than hovels. The great fire
of 1915 decimated much of the city
centre, including Hotel Reykjavík,
the only grandiose lodging in
town. Fifteen years later, Jóhannes
Jósefsson, a wrestler and one of
Iceland’s more remarkable figures,
would embark on a mission to fill
Iceland’s dearth of luxury accom-
modations and add to Reykjavík’s
otherwise lacklustre architectural
appeal.
“It is a fascinating story,” says
Pétur H Ármansson, head of
the architecture department at
the Cultural Heritage Agency of
Iceland. “Here is this wealthy, inter-
nationally-known sports star who,
having recently returned to Iceland,
decided to build a luxury hotel.”
Born into poverty in 1883,
Jóhannes Borg, as he would come
to be known, rose to prominence
in 1907 upon becoming Iceland’s
national glíma champion. After
competing in Greco-Roman
wrestling at the 1908 London
Olympics, Jóhannes travelled the
world demonstrating glíma and
challenging practitioners of other
martial arts. In that sense you
might call him the world’s first
MMA fighter. His mission was “to
show that Icelanders were more
valorous and daring than any
other nation.”
He bested an undefeated jiu
jitsu champion in Japan, while in
Saint Petersburg it took him just
two minutes to force a gun wield-
ing cossack into submission, and,
according to a more improbable
story, he once took on a black bear
in a wrestling match. For years,
Jóhannes travelled the U.S. with
the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus’ Greatest Show on
Earth, demonstrating glíma and
even asserting to The Evening
Tribune in 1924 that women could
use its techniques to “disarm
machine gun wielding bandits.”
On the occasion of his 80th
birthday in 1963, Jóhannes recalled
for RÚV one particular showcase
match against a knife fighter in
Portugal:
“In 1912 in Lisbon, Portugal,
I faced that country’s best knife
fighter… He stabbed my hand
and twisted the knife until my
bones cracked. I was gonna kill
the scoundrel and grabbed him by
the neck. This prompted the angry
crowd to rush the stage and I was
forced to crawl through their legs
out of the venue and to a doctor.”
Importantly for this tale of
Hotel Borg, these often violent and
sometimes bizarre exploits proved
extremely lucrative for Jóhannes.
The wealth of a nation
“Jóhannes returned to Iceland a
very wealthy man; akin to when
professional footballers return
to Iceland today,” says Pétur.
“But what is beautiful about this
story is that Jóhannes didn’t
construct the hotel for financial
gain; I believe he lost money on
the venture. He was a man who
cared deeply for his little country
and wanted to do something that
would benefit it, and he believed
that a hotel of this calibre was vital
for the development and growth
of Reykjavík.”
Pétur explains that the
construction of Hotel Borg is
symbolic of a time when the
identity of Iceland as an indepen-
dent nation was taking shape.
The Danish king had granted the
country home rule in 1918 and
Iceland was anxious to regain the
independence it lost eight centu-
ries earlier.
“Having a building like this in
Reykjavík was invaluable, because
it helped demonstrate that Iceland
was a cultured nation like any
other,” says Pétur.
In fact, shortly after the
hotel opened its doors in 1930 it
hosted foreign dignitaries and
distinguished guests marking the
1,000 year anniversary of Alþingi.
It was the first time the Icelandic
government had held an event of
that stature.
Sometimes Unbelievable,
Always Remarkable
How Hotel Borg became the symbol of a nation reborn
Words: Elías Þórsson Photos: Art Bicnick
TRAVEL FEATURE
Hotels are ubiquitous in modern Reykjavík, but only one symbolises the spirit of a
nation regaining its independence, stepping out of the mud huts to become a city.
TRAVEL
“Jóhannes didn’t
construct the hotel
for financial gain …
He was a man who
cared deeply for his
little country and
wanted to do some-
thing that would
benefit it.”