On the 19th of October 1918 the Spanish Flu spread to Iceland. The pandemic claimed the lives of as many as 540 people in total, more than half in Reykjavík. Two thirds of the townsfolk caught the infection, most becoming bedridden for days. The pandemic turned Reykjavík into a ghost town as businesses shut down, ships were not loaded, newspapers were not published and the telegram office closed.
A pandemic and volcanic eruption
On the very same day as the pandemic reached Reykjavík the Icelandic people approved in a referendum to ratify the Union Treaty with Denmark, an agreement which made Iceland a sovereign nation. The Danish King would still be the head of state, but Reykjavík now became the capital of a newly independent nation.
Read more: October 12, 2018: A century has passed since last eruption in monster volcano Katla
The winter 1918-19 was one of the hardest and coldest in years, and just a week earlier, on October 12, the volcano Katla had just begun erupting in South Iceland. Sunday October 13 was called Dark Sunday in Reykjavík: The sky was dark from ash produced by the Monster of Mýrdaljökull. The young nation had its hands full.
Spread from US, UK and Denmark
The infection arrived in Iceland on three separate vessels all of which arrived in harbor on October 19. Two docked in the downtown harbor in Reykjavík. The freighter Willemoes arrived from the US, followed by the passenger vessel Botnia, which came from Copenhagen. A trawler arriving from the UK brought the disease to Hafnarfjörður, which is today a suburb of Reykjavík, but was a small fishing town at the time.
Patient Zero who caused the pandemic in Reykjavík is believed to have been a young woman onboard the Botnia. She was in Reykjavík to visit her brother who was enrolled at Vélstjóraskólinn, the marine engineers' college. Within days all the students at the school as well as the headmaster had taken ill and were in bed. The infection then spread throughout Reykjavik. Within a month a fifth of the population of the small town was bedridden.
Read more: 1920 map shows how Reykjavík has grown from a small town to a small city
A combination of factors contributed to the extremely rapid spread of the infection in Reykjavík. Most people lived in extremely cramped and poor conditions. Reykjavík was facing an intense housing shortage at the time, a problem which persisted throughout the coming decades. This was also before Icelanders had harnessed geothermal energy for central heating or the waterfalls to produce electricity. The inhabitants of Reykjavík, especially the working class, lived in poorly constructed and poorly insulated wooden buildings, entire families packed into one or two small rooms.
People sought refuge at the cinemas, which remained open even after the infection had started to spread. These provided ideal venues to spread a deadly virus. The stage was set for a massive public health crisis.
The Angel of Death arrives
The infection spread rapidly, overwhelming the two private hospitals in town. The authorities converted the downtown children's school into a hospital. Since there weren't enough hospital beds, the authorities used beds from a stranded vessel, jury-rigging a new hospital with a daycare center to take care of children who had either lost their parents to the disease or who didn't have anyone to care for them as their family was all bedridden.
The first deaths came on November 1. Locals talked about the Angel of Death having swept over the town. By early December nearly 300 people had died in Reykjavík, which had a population of just 15,000 people at the time. Many families lost several family members, with a number of children being left orphaned.
Read more: Gorgeous images of Reykjavík in 1910s and 20s: A charming small town
At least 10,000 are believed to have been infected in Reykjavík, paralyzing the town. Businesses shut down one by one, newspapers ceased coming out on November 6, the collection of trash or emptying of public lavatories stopped in the city. Telephone contact with the outside world ceased as all but one of the employees of the State Telephone company were sick at home.
Icelanders pull together
The initial public response was slow and uncertain, but when the crisis hit the community responded with remarkable resolution. A special public health commission was established in Reykjavík. The town, was split into 13 precincts, and every single inhabitant was checked and efforts made to contain the spread of the infection. Healthy people and those who had already recovered signed up to volunteer for the health commission and at hospitals, assisting doctors and nurses and the public health officials.
Volunteers cared for the sick and brought food to families which were unable to care for themselves. The wheels of industry and commerce shut down completely as people were either too sick to work or caring for those who needed help. Once the newspapers started to come out again they published the names of people who donated to the relief effort, along with the amount donated. A total of 63,000 Króna were collected, a significant sum, considering the fact that the hourly wage of a worker was just 0.9 Króna.
The captains of industry and commerce pitched in: Thor Jensen provided 8000 meals to sick people, and Olaf Olafsen, the owner of Duus Commercial Company gave 10,000 ISK to the relief fund. People brought food to neighbors and helped out in any way they could.
The generosity and remarkable willingness to help friends, family and total strangers alike was one of the things which Icelanders remembered.
A successful quarantine
The pandemic spread to fishing towns and villages in West and South Iceland. Worst hit were the boomtowns which had seen the rapid expansion of trawling in the first decade of the century. Akranes, Keflavík and Vestmannaeyjar were particularly hard hit.
Large parts of the country were spared, however, thanks to an aggressive quarantine. The North and East, and much of South Iceland managed to keep the infection at bay by limiting travel. Guards were posted on Holtavörðuheiði heath and at Jökulsá river on Sólheimasandur in South Iceland to ensure that nobody who had been in contact with anyone infected could carry the infection into these areas.
Lasting impact
By November 20 the disease had peaked in the capital. The town had run out of coffins for the dead who were being buried in mass graves. Celebrations which had been planned on December 1, when the newly signed Union Treaty went into effect, making Iceland a sovereign nation, were canceled or scaled down.
Read more: On this day in history: Iceland became a sovereign state 99 years ago
The conditions in Reykjavík during the winter and the slow and uncertain response by the authorities helped draw attention to the need for a concerted effort to address social problems, the housing shortage and poor living conditions of the working class. This struggle would take decades, but the spirit of collective action and unselfish sacrifice which was on display in November and December 1918 served as an inspiration.
On the 19th of October 1918 the Spanish Flu spread to Iceland. The pandemic claimed the lives of as many as 540 people in total, more than half in Reykjavík. Two thirds of the townsfolk caught the infection, most becoming bedridden for days. The pandemic turned Reykjavík into a ghost town as businesses shut down, ships were not loaded, newspapers were not published and the telegram office closed.
A pandemic and volcanic eruption
On the very same day as the pandemic reached Reykjavík the Icelandic people approved in a referendum to ratify the Union Treaty with Denmark, an agreement which made Iceland a sovereign nation. The Danish King would still be the head of state, but Reykjavík now became the capital of a newly independent nation.
Read more: October 12, 2018: A century has passed since last eruption in monster volcano Katla
The winter 1918-19 was one of the hardest and coldest in years, and just a week earlier, on October 12, the volcano Katla had just begun erupting in South Iceland. Sunday October 13 was called Dark Sunday in Reykjavík: The sky was dark from ash produced by the Monster of Mýrdaljökull. The young nation had its hands full.
Spread from US, UK and Denmark
The infection arrived in Iceland on three separate vessels all of which arrived in harbor on October 19. Two docked in the downtown harbor in Reykjavík. The freighter Willemoes arrived from the US, followed by the passenger vessel Botnia, which came from Copenhagen. A trawler arriving from the UK brought the disease to Hafnarfjörður, which is today a suburb of Reykjavík, but was a small fishing town at the time.
Patient Zero who caused the pandemic in Reykjavík is believed to have been a young woman onboard the Botnia. She was in Reykjavík to visit her brother who was enrolled at Vélstjóraskólinn, the marine engineers' college. Within days all the students at the school as well as the headmaster had taken ill and were in bed. The infection then spread throughout Reykjavik. Within a month a fifth of the population of the small town was bedridden.
Read more: 1920 map shows how Reykjavík has grown from a small town to a small city
A combination of factors contributed to the extremely rapid spread of the infection in Reykjavík. Most people lived in extremely cramped and poor conditions. Reykjavík was facing an intense housing shortage at the time, a problem which persisted throughout the coming decades. This was also before Icelanders had harnessed geothermal energy for central heating or the waterfalls to produce electricity. The inhabitants of Reykjavík, especially the working class, lived in poorly constructed and poorly insulated wooden buildings, entire families packed into one or two small rooms.
People sought refuge at the cinemas, which remained open even after the infection had started to spread. These provided ideal venues to spread a deadly virus. The stage was set for a massive public health crisis.
The Angel of Death arrives
The infection spread rapidly, overwhelming the two private hospitals in town. The authorities converted the downtown children's school into a hospital. Since there weren't enough hospital beds, the authorities used beds from a stranded vessel, jury-rigging a new hospital with a daycare center to take care of children who had either lost their parents to the disease or who didn't have anyone to care for them as their family was all bedridden.
The first deaths came on November 1. Locals talked about the Angel of Death having swept over the town. By early December nearly 300 people had died in Reykjavík, which had a population of just 15,000 people at the time. Many families lost several family members, with a number of children being left orphaned.
Read more: Gorgeous images of Reykjavík in 1910s and 20s: A charming small town
At least 10,000 are believed to have been infected in Reykjavík, paralyzing the town. Businesses shut down one by one, newspapers ceased coming out on November 6, the collection of trash or emptying of public lavatories stopped in the city. Telephone contact with the outside world ceased as all but one of the employees of the State Telephone company were sick at home.
Icelanders pull together
The initial public response was slow and uncertain, but when the crisis hit the community responded with remarkable resolution. A special public health commission was established in Reykjavík. The town, was split into 13 precincts, and every single inhabitant was checked and efforts made to contain the spread of the infection. Healthy people and those who had already recovered signed up to volunteer for the health commission and at hospitals, assisting doctors and nurses and the public health officials.
Volunteers cared for the sick and brought food to families which were unable to care for themselves. The wheels of industry and commerce shut down completely as people were either too sick to work or caring for those who needed help. Once the newspapers started to come out again they published the names of people who donated to the relief effort, along with the amount donated. A total of 63,000 Króna were collected, a significant sum, considering the fact that the hourly wage of a worker was just 0.9 Króna.
The captains of industry and commerce pitched in: Thor Jensen provided 8000 meals to sick people, and Olaf Olafsen, the owner of Duus Commercial Company gave 10,000 ISK to the relief fund. People brought food to neighbors and helped out in any way they could.
The generosity and remarkable willingness to help friends, family and total strangers alike was one of the things which Icelanders remembered.
A successful quarantine
The pandemic spread to fishing towns and villages in West and South Iceland. Worst hit were the boomtowns which had seen the rapid expansion of trawling in the first decade of the century. Akranes, Keflavík and Vestmannaeyjar were particularly hard hit.
Large parts of the country were spared, however, thanks to an aggressive quarantine. The North and East, and much of South Iceland managed to keep the infection at bay by limiting travel. Guards were posted on Holtavörðuheiði heath and at Jökulsá river on Sólheimasandur in South Iceland to ensure that nobody who had been in contact with anyone infected could carry the infection into these areas.
Lasting impact
By November 20 the disease had peaked in the capital. The town had run out of coffins for the dead who were being buried in mass graves. Celebrations which had been planned on December 1, when the newly signed Union Treaty went into effect, making Iceland a sovereign nation, were canceled or scaled down.
Read more: On this day in history: Iceland became a sovereign state 99 years ago
The conditions in Reykjavík during the winter and the slow and uncertain response by the authorities helped draw attention to the need for a concerted effort to address social problems, the housing shortage and poor living conditions of the working class. This struggle would take decades, but the spirit of collective action and unselfish sacrifice which was on display in November and December 1918 served as an inspiration.
