On April 3, 1882, the Icelandic governor Hilmar Finsen announced the establishment of the Contry Archives, as the National Archives was originally called. At the time, there was a movement in the nation’s museums. The National Library and the Archaeological Museum (now the National Museum of Iceland) moved from the attic of the Cathedral in Reykjavík to the newly built Althingi Hall. The governor seized the opportunity to create better conditions for the archives of the country’s highest officials than had existed before, and placed the new archive on the attic of the Cathedral.

Since then, a lot of water has flowed to the sea. The museum has moved three times. First in the Parliament building in 1900, in the museum building on Hverfisgata in 1908 and finally in the current building on Laugavegur 162 in Reykjavík in 1987–1998.

Since its inception, the museum has grown in size and scope, and its operation has changed completely. Initially, there was no designated employee who was responsible for the museum, but the officials continued to keep track of their archives at the Cathedral. In the beginning of 1900, the first director of the archives, Jón Þorkelsson, called Jón forni, took over. Today, the National Archives employs nearly 50 employees. The amount of documents was initially small and could be accommodated in several rooms at the Cathedral, but now documents in the collection are closer to 50 shelf-kilometers.

The National Archives contain documents on the history of Iceland from the 12th century, but Reykholtsmáldagi, the oldest document written in Icelandic, is preserved in the archives. Documents in the National Archives are sources on Icelandic society, history and rights of individuals; they are key to researching the history of citizens and the nation.

National archivist

• Jón Þorkelsson 1900 – 1924

• Hannes Thorsteinsson 1924 - 1935

• Barði Guðmundsson 1935 – 1957

• Stefán Pétursson 1957 - 1968

• Bjarni Vilhjálmsson 1968 – 1984

• Ólafur Ásgeirsson 1984 - 2012

• Eiríkur G. Guðmundsson 2012 – 2019

• Hrefna Róbertsdóttir 2019 -