Finland attracts nature and winter sports enthusiasts. There are more than a hundred museums in Suomi, most of which are located in Helsinki. Finns are especially careful about their history and culture, telling about it in the smallest detail. Special attention is paid to the collections of paintings and art objects. Each object is decorated in the same Finnish style.
In addition to museums in the traditional sense of the word, in the Finnish capital you can visit real interactive complexes built with the latest technology. The most striking example is the Amos Rex Museum, whose buildings, exhibits, and technologies immerse visitors in a different reality. Projections, thematic computer games, fascinating videos - all this is actively used by Finns in modern museums.
The most interesting museums in Helsinki
List, photos with names and descriptions of museums worth visiting.
National Museum of Finland
The main museum of the Finnish capital is located in a picturesque building of the early 20th century. On a permanent basis, there is an exhibition about the history of the country, about the first inhabitants of Finland who settled here 10,000 years ago. The exposition "Power" presents the times of Swedish and ecclesiastical rule, as well as the period after the accession to the Russian Empire. The museum has a workshop where you can personally take part in folk crafts from different eras.
Address: Mannerheimintie, 34, Helsinki
Website: kansallismuseo.fi
Atheneum
In the heart of Helsinki, on Rautatientori Square, is the central museum of Finnish art. The collection consists of more than 20 thousand exhibits of the 18th - 20th centuries. The permanent exhibition includes paintings and sculptures. The building of the Athenaeum itself, built in 1887, can also be called a work of art. Together with the Sinebrychoff Museum and the Museum, Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery.
Address: Kaivokatu, 2, Helsinki
Website: ateneum.fi
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is located in an old Russian mansion. It occupies a relatively small area, but this makes it no less interesting. Here you can visit all the typical natural landscapes of the country, see the remains of dinosaurs and extinct animals, get acquainted with the history of the evolution of living things through the example of visual exhibits. There are also corners of nature around the world and a large collection of minerals.
Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu, 13, Helsinki
Website: luomus.fi
Helsinki City Museum
The historical exposition tells everything about the Finnish capital. The museum has nine branches located in various historic buildings in the city. They represent different eras: from the founding of the city in 1550 to the present day. In addition to exploring the historical exhibits, visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the ancient city using virtual reality technologies and projections. The visit is free.
Address: Aleksanterinkatu, 14-18, Helsinki
Website: helsinginkaupunginmuseo.fi
Seurasaari
An interesting place for guests of all ages. The open air museum is located on the island. There is an old settlement here that has preserved the traditional Finnish way of life: wooden houses, smoke saunas, torps. They say that real peasant Finland is represented here. Details of the exposition are collected from all over the country. There is an excursion program, in summer you can visit fairs, folk art festivals and master classes.
Address: Seurasaaren ulkomuseo, Seurasaari, Helsinki
Website: kansallismuseo.fi
Suomenlinna fortress
The second name of this fortress is Sveaborg. Built in the 18th century on seven islands near Helsinki, it is part of UNESCO sites. There are six museums on the territory of various subjects. The Suomenlinna Museum presents old Russian weapons. You can visit an authentic Finnish submarine Vesikko from the 1930s. A separate museum is dedicated to the Finnish toy, there is also a military museum Manezh, a customs museum and a museum of Field Marshal Ehrenswerd.
Address: Suomenlinna, C1, Helsinki
Website: suomenlinna.fi
Design Museum
The museum is located in a historic building in the center of Helsinki. This is the place where the finest pieces of Finnish design art are gathered. There are traveling exhibitions from different countries. The exhibits have been collected since 1873, they tell about the development of design and its impact on society. Guided tours in Russian take place once a month. The museum has a cozy cafe and a shop of design products.
Address: Korkeavuorenkatu, 23, Helsinki
Website: designmuseum.fi
Museum of Contemporary Art "Kiasma"
All of Finland's contemporary art is presented in a unique building, the main architectural element of which is light. To date, the exposition has more than 8000 exhibits, and every year a special commission selects 100 works by contemporary authors for participation. The museum has workshops and a theater.
Address: Mannerheimintie, 11, Helsinki
Website: kiasma.fi
Sinebryukhov Art Museum
The museum is located in an old mansion of a family of brewers. The last descendant of the Sinebryukhov family was a collector of paintings. This collection became the basis of the museum's exposition, which presents the works of European and Russian painters of the 13th - 19th centuries. The premises of the Sinebryukhov family have also been preserved unchanged, which are also open to the public.
Address: Bulevardi, 40, Helsinki
Website: sinebrychoffintaidemuseo.fi
Helsinki Art Museum
This unique project is called the Helsinki Art Museum. His expositions are located in all corners of the capital: these are statues and sculptures on the streets of the city, art objects in hospitals, schools and libraries. The collection includes 9,000 pieces of contemporary Finnish and international art. The exhibitions of the museum are held in the Tennis Palace, the building of which is itself a landmark.
Address: Eteläinen Rautatiekatu, 8, Helsinki
Website: hamhelsinki.fi
"Amos Rex"
This private museum is an updated version of the Amos Anderson Museum, opened back in 1965. Now it is a futuristic complex, combining several underground galleries with crater windows and the building of a glass palace from 1936. Here you can see all the most unusual solutions: interactive, high-tech and surreal exhibitions, works of contemporary authors. The expositions are regularly updated.
Address: Mannerheimintie, 22-24, Helsinki
Website: amosrex.fi
Finnish Architecture Museum
The museum not only organizes expositions and traveling international exhibitions, but also has great scientific value. Drawings, drawings, photographs and models collected in it represent the history of architecture from antiquity to the 80s of the XX century. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are exhibitions of contemporary architecture at any time. There is a bookstore at the museum.
Address: Kasarmikatu, 24, Helsinki
Website: mfa.fi
Technical museum
A unique museum based on a complex of buildings of an old power plant. Located in the old part of Helsinki, on the island. The exhibits will tell about the transformation of peasant Finland into a country of high technologies. You can see the power plant's machine room, a mining mine, an old elevator, water treatment systems, the first Finnish computer, and much more. All exhibits are provided with a detailed description.
Address: Viikintie, 1, Helsinki
Website: tekniikanmuseo.fi
House-Museum of Mannerheim
Baron Gustav Mannerheim is known as an outstanding military and statesman. The house in which he lived, after the death of the marshal, it was decided to open for visiting, but there were so many interested persons that it became a permanent museum. Here, most of the rooms have been preserved unchanged, there is an extensive library, awards, trophies of war, objects of art from a personal collection. Tours are conducted in six languages, including Russian.
Address: Kalliolinnantie, 14, Helsinki
Website: mannerheim-museo.fi
Museum of Working Life
On the basis of an old wooden house in Helsinki, there is a museum that tells about the life of Finnish workers in the last century. In ten apartments, different periods of the 20th century are presented, where the development of technical progress can be gradually tracked: the appearance of electricity, the first gramophones, sewing machines.The courtyard is also furnished according to all the rules of the last century. You can buy antique household items in the museum shop.
Address: Kirstinkuja, 4, Helsinki
Website: muzeirabochegobyta.fi
Alvar Aalto Museum-Studio
The renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto designed the studio for his own architecture firm in 1955. The building is surrounded on all sides by an amphitheater-shaped courtyard. Both in the drawing room inside and in the courtyard, many famous projects have been created. Now the office of the Alvar Aalto Foundation is located here, guided tours are held.
Address: Tiilimäki, 20, Helsinki
Website: alvaraalto.fi
Bank of Finland Museum
The museum is located near the central square of Helsinki. Here are the answers to all questions about world finance. Using the example of the exhibits, one can study the history of money from animal skins to modern currencies. Computer games allow you to participate in bank management and forecast inflation. It will be useful to learn how to determine the authenticity of banknotes.
Address: Snellmaninkatu, 2, Helsinki
Website: rahamuseo.fi
War museum
The main museum of the Finnish Armed Forces. Exhibitions are held at the Suomenlinna Fortress and in Helsinki. Exhibits began to be collected in 1929, at present their number is more than 200,000, but only a part of them participate in exhibitions. These are military uniforms, flags and awards, weapons and equipment. The War Museum Manege presents the history of the Finnish wars and battles for independence. The museum includes the legendary Vesikko submarine.
Address: Maurinkatu, 1, Helsinki
Website: maanpuolustuskorkeakoulu.fi
Tram museum
The museum is located in a tram depot built in 1900. Located in the Koryamo Culture Factory. Here, a real tram car has been restored that traveled through the streets of Helsinki more than 100 years ago. Inside, the atmosphere of the beginning of the last century is fully preserved. You can sit in the place of the conductor, remember how to use a composter and watch fragments of an old movie.
Address: Töölönkatu, 51 A, Helsinki
Website: muzeitramvaja.fi
Khakasalmi estate
This old mansion is also called the Karamzina estate, since the imperial maid of honor and the famous public figure Aurora Karamzina lived here until her death. Her personal belongings, as well as a copy of the Sancy diamond, have been preserved in the museum's collection. The mansion itself is considered the best example of the Finnish Empire style, of which very few have survived. Exhibitions are regularly held on the base of the estate.
Address: Mannerheimintie, 13 B, Helsinki
Website: usadbahakasalmi.fi
Kaapelitehdas
The simplified name is Kaapeli. The famous building of the former cable factory has now been turned into a cultural center, where regular art and photo exhibitions, fairs and festivals take place. The Finnish Museum of Photography, the Theater Museum and the Museum of Hotels and Restaurants operate here on a permanent basis. In all three, you can get to know the profession from the inside and get acquainted with its history and secrets.
Address: Tallberginkatu, 1, Helsinki
Website: kaapelitehdas.fi
Gallery "Forsblom"
It is one of the largest contemporary art galleries on the European server and bears the name of its founder - Kai Forsblom. Dozens of exhibitions of artists from Finland and all over the world are held here every year. She gained the reputation of the most famous gallery in Scandinavia for extensive cooperation with international projects and for many years of work, more than 40 years.
Address: Yrjönkatu, 22, Helsinki
Website: galerieforsblom.com
Juhani Kirpil's House of Arts
The Museum named after the famous Finnish doctor is located in the quiet northwestern district of Helsinki. Juhani Kirpilä was a great lover of painting and managed to collect a large collection of paintings, which he donated to the city along with his mansion. In addition to paintings from the 19th - 20th centuries, sculptures, sketches, and Russian porcelain are presented here. Contemporary art exhibitions, concerts and lectures are regularly held.
Address: Pohjoinen Hesperiankatu, 7, Helsinki
Website: taidekotikirpila.fi
Daily newspaper museum
Autumn is an interesting place for lovers of antiquity and journalism. The exhibits will tell about the development of printing: the first newspapers, machines, old interiors of publishing houses. The main part of the exhibition is devoted to Finnish journalism, censorship and the principles of freedom of speech. You can get to screenings of old films and interactive entertainment. Visiting the museum is free.
Address: Ludviginkatu, 2–4, Helsinki
Website: paivalehdenmuseo.fi
University of Helsinki Museum
The oldest educational institution in Finland has a museum for free visits. He will tell about the history of the university from its foundation in the 17th century to the present day. The expositions are distributed over the periods of the country's history, which influenced the life of the university. A large collection of student uniforms, old textbooks, rare scientific publications are presented. Visitors will learn many new facts about the country and science.
Address: Snellmaninkatu, 3, Helsinki
Website: helsinki.fi
Firefighting Museum
The Erottaia rescue station, built in 1891, is not only perfectly preserved, but also operates in our time. A museum dedicated to all the subtleties of saving people and extinguishing fires was founded on its territory. Visitors will learn about the history of firefighting, learn how to provide first aid and how to behave in an emergency. The station is located on a hill, and a beautiful panorama of the city opens from its 42-meter tower.
Address: Korkeavuorenkatu, 26, Helsinki
Website: hel.fi
Villa Gillenburg
This place is called the most beautiful museum in Finland. It is located in the house of the family of the banker Üllenberg on the island of Kuusisaari. Ane Yullenberg was a philanthropist and art collector. The villa has been completely preserved in the form in which it was during the life of the family. Of interest are not only the numerous canvases, but the very furnishings of the house, made with bourgeois chic, and at the same time restrained. Nearby there is an art gallery with canvases by Finnish artists.
Address: Kuusisaarenpolku, 11, Helsinki
Website: gyllenbergs.fi
Didrichsen Art Museum
This museum on the island of Kuusisaari bears the name of its first director. The first exhibited canvases were in the style of traditional Finnish art, but real fame came to the museum after the acquisition of works by modernists: Picasso, Pedersen, Tapies. One of the most notable events was an exhibition of paintings by Edvard Munch in 2015, and an exhibition of Van Gogh is planned in 2020.
Address: Kuusilahdenkuja, 1, Helsinki
Website: didrichsenmuseum.fi
Burgher's house
The oldest wooden building in the center of Helsinki, built in 1818, has now been restored and is open to the public. The interior decoration of the house was restored according to the surviving inventory of the firemaster's legacy. Here, visitors can immerse themselves in the life of a wealthy Finnish official from the 1860s. The house is a branch of the City Museum, admission is free.
Address: Kristianinkatu, 12, Helsinki
Website: ruiskumestarintalo.fi
Finnish Sports Museum
For guests of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, there is a great opportunity to visit a museum dedicated to the history of national sports. It was created in 1943 at the initiative of the state. The collection numbers about 30,000 items: sports equipment from different years, uniforms and awards of famous athletes. The oldest item in the museum is skis, which are more than 2.5 thousand years old. A special place is occupied by exhibits from the XV Olympic Games in Helsinki.
Address: Valimotie, 13 A, 5. krs, Helsinki
Website: urheilumuseo.fi
