Stjórnarráðið (The Government House) was originally built as a prison. Construction existed from 1761 and was completed in 1771. When Governor E.C.L. Moltke came to Iceland in 1819, he obtained permission to move into the building and had it extensively renovated. After that building was the home and workplace of the Governor. During 1873- 1904 it was the residence of the Governor-General, after which it housed the government when a Home Rule Minister was appointed in Reykjavík. Today this is the office of the Prime Minister.
It was on the steps of this building that Iceland was declared a sovereign state on December 1st 1918. On the lawn are two statues by Einar Jónsson: one, put up in 1931, of Hannes Hafstein, the first Icelander to be Home Rule Minister, and the other, from 1915, of King Christian IX of Denmark giving Icelanders their constitution.
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Hannes Hafstein
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King Christian IX of Denmark
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