On January 23, 1973, residents of the island town Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland were woken from sleep by the sounds of a huge fissure ripping open the earth. The Eldfell volcanic eruption that followed forced everyone to evacuate the island for six months. By the time the eruption stopped, 400 homes were covered by lava and the rest of the island was covered in ash. In this episode, I hike up the Eldfell volcano and visit Eldheimar, a state-of-the-art museum of remembrance built 40 years after the eruption. 

Music in this episode is "Þeir vaka yfir þér" by Soffía Björg.

This episode is sponsored by Locatify. Locatify is an Icelandic software company specializing in mobile apps that use location technologies for Immersive audio guides, treasure hunt games, Augmented Reality and indoor GPS. 

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Museums in Strange Places is a podcast for people who love museums, stories, culture, and exploring the world. In Season One, the podcast focuses on museums in Iceland. 

Subscribe to Museums in Strange Places and you can expect fascinating conversations with Icelandic museum professionals, world class exhibitions, private museums in gas stations, an introduction to Icelanders and their knack for storytelling, and a unique window into the inner workings of museums on this strange but wonderful little island.

Get bonus material from each episode (photos, further reading, links) at hhethmon.com. Use the hashtag #MuseumsinStrangePlaces on social media.

The podcast is hosted by Hannah Hethmon, an independent museum professional living in Warsaw, Poland. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @hannah_rfh or on the web at hhethmon.com. Hannah has a BA in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park and an MA from the University of Iceland in Medieval Icelandic Studies. After completing her MA, she spent two years as the Marketing Coordinator for the American Association for State and Local History and most recently completed a Fulbright Fellowship on language and museums in Iceland.