Discover the rich history of the school of Fuglafjørður, a landmark blending tradition and modern education in the Faroe Islands.

The History of the School in Fuglafjørður

The first school in Fuglafjørður was established in Beiti við Garð following the enactment of the Municipal Law in 1872. In 1882, the school was moved to the stone building in Bugni, where the town library is currently located and where the local tourist information office was also based for several years. This building had a classroom at one end and a teacher's residence at the other.
In 1917, the school was relocated to Høgnahúsini, but returned to the stone building in 1923. At that time, the teacher's residence was also converted into a classroom.

The old school had served its purpose, and a new building was needed—one large enough to accommodate the growing number of students. No expense was spared. The new school in Fuglafjørður was designed by Hofgaard, the first Faroese architect to graduate from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He envisioned a tower—a spire—as a defining feature of the school. Though the idea was unusual, the open-minded residents of Fuglafjørður supported it.
When the school was completed in 1936 on Skarðsryggur, the village had gained a new landmark. One of the first things seen when arriving in Fuglafjørður was the large school with its distinctive tower. In the 1950s, the tower was removed. In 1966, the school was expanded with a new wing that included a swimming pool, specialist classrooms, and a gymnasium.

Since 1972, there has been a school collaboration with the municipalities of Gøta and Leirvík (now Eysturkommuna). This collaboration is called Framvit, and pupils from 8th to 10th grade attend school in Fuglafjørður.

In 2005, a new extension was opened, featuring modern facilities such as a physics and chemistry lab, a biology lab, woodworking and metalworking rooms, a mechanics workshop, a textiles room, and a school library.

In 2016, the Fuglafjørður Town Council approved the construction of a new primary school under the slogan “More than a school.” A building committee and construction management team were appointed, and ground was broken in March 2017. The new primary school opened on February 2, 2022, and was officially inaugurated two months later, on April 2.

The tower—once a visible symbol representing the foundation of knowledge that Fuglafjørður aspired to—now belongs to the past. Instead, a new and more fitting symbol was integrated into the design of the new school: the roof itself was shaped like a heartbeat seen on a monitor in a hospital’s cardiac ward. A reverse square root symbol—representing life itself. Where knowledge was once seen as an external goal to strive toward, it is now seen as an internal driving force. The new school has become the heartbeat of the village.