National Museum of Finland
Encyclopedia
The National Museum of Finland presents Finnish
history from the Stone Age
to the present day, through objects and cultural history
. The Finnish National Romantic style
building is located in central Helsinki
and operates in collaboration with the National Board of Antiquities , an association related to the government's Ministry of Education.
, medal
s, orders and decorations, silver, jewellery and weapon
s.
Prehistory of Finland is the largest permanent archeological exhibition in Finland.
The Realm presents of the development of Finnish society
and culture from the Middle Ages
12th century to the early 20th century, through the Swedish Kingdom Period to the Russian Empire Era. The "Land and Its People" presents Finnish folk culture
in 18th–19th centuries, life in the countryside before the industrialisation
.
The 20th century exhibition presents independent
Finland and its united and international culture. This exhibition is closed 2010-2011.
VINTTI, Easy History, National Museum’s newest department, is an interactive exhibition, where visitors can study the history of Finland and its culture using their hands and brains.
It is based on experimentation and personal experience, and the tasks and assignments also point the way to exploring the permanent exhibitions of the museum.
The museum collections include the Mesa Verde
artifacts from the cliff dwellings of Colorado. These were dedicated to the museum by the Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer Gustaf Nordenskiöld
. They comprise the most-extensive collection of Mesa Verde items outside the United States and one of the largest collections of native Americana outside the American continents.
These artifacts are on display in the Museum of Cultures, in Tennispalatsi address: Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8, Helsinki.
The museum's entrance hall ceiling has ceiling frescoes about the Kalevala
, painted by Akseli Gallén-Kallela
, which can be seen without an entrance fee. The frescoes, painted in 1928, are based on the frescoes painted by Gallén-Kallela in the Finnish Pavilion of the Paris World Fair
in 1900.
The building of the National Museum was designed by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren
, and Eliel Saarinen
. The appearance of the building reflects Finland's medieval churches and castle
s. The architecture belongs to national romanticism and the interior mainly to art nouveau
. The museum was built from 1905 to 1910 and opened to the public in 1916. The museum was named the Finnish National Museum after Finland's independence in 1917. After the last thorough renovation, the museum was opened in 2000.
accident at the National Museum in the Silver Room, which was probably caused by methane
leaking into a broom cupboard and lit by a spark from the electrical mains in the closet. There were two possible sources for the methane; a leak from a gas pipe under the nearby Museokatu street, or gas that developed on its own in the sewer. Later, police investigations found the cause to be a gas pipe leak http://www.hs.fi/uutiset/tuoreet/artikkeli/Kansallismuseon+r%C3%A4j%C3%A4hdyksen+syyn%C3%A4+maakaasuvuoto/1135218807492. Most display cases and some silver objects in the museum's Silver Room were damaged in the explosion, although most of them only mildly. All objects have been repaired during 2006. The Silver Room was re-opened to the public in early 2007.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
history from the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
to the present day, through objects and cultural history
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
. The Finnish National Romantic style
National Romantic Style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the national romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th century. Designers turned to early Medieval and even prehistoric precedents to construct a style appropriate to the perceived character of a people...
building is located in central Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
and operates in collaboration with the National Board of Antiquities , an association related to the government's Ministry of Education.
Exhibitions
The permanent exhibitions of the National Museum are divided into six parts. The Treasure Troves presents the collections of coinsCOinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...
, medal
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
s, orders and decorations, silver, jewellery and weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
s.
Prehistory of Finland is the largest permanent archeological exhibition in Finland.
The Realm presents of the development of Finnish society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and culture from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
12th century to the early 20th century, through the Swedish Kingdom Period to the Russian Empire Era. The "Land and Its People" presents Finnish folk culture
Folk culture
Folk culture refers to the lifestyle of a culture. Historically, handed down through oral tradition, it demonstrates the "old ways" over novelty and relates to a sense of community. Folk culture is quite often imbued with a sense of place...
in 18th–19th centuries, life in the countryside before the industrialisation
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
.
The 20th century exhibition presents independent
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
Finland and its united and international culture. This exhibition is closed 2010-2011.
VINTTI, Easy History, National Museum’s newest department, is an interactive exhibition, where visitors can study the history of Finland and its culture using their hands and brains.
It is based on experimentation and personal experience, and the tasks and assignments also point the way to exploring the permanent exhibitions of the museum.
The museum collections include the Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde National Park
Mesa Verde National Park is a U.S. National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was created in 1906 to protect some of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in the world...
artifacts from the cliff dwellings of Colorado. These were dedicated to the museum by the Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer Gustaf Nordenskiöld
Gustaf Nordenskiöld
Gustaf Nordenskiöld , Swedish scholar of Finnish descent, a member of the Nordenskiöld family of scientists and the eldest son of polar explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and Anna Maria Mannerheim...
. They comprise the most-extensive collection of Mesa Verde items outside the United States and one of the largest collections of native Americana outside the American continents.
These artifacts are on display in the Museum of Cultures, in Tennispalatsi address: Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8, Helsinki.
The museum's entrance hall ceiling has ceiling frescoes about the Kalevala
Kalevala
The Kalevala is a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore and mythology.It is regarded as the national epic of Finland and is one of the most significant works of Finnish literature...
, painted by Akseli Gallén-Kallela
Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic . His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity...
, which can be seen without an entrance fee. The frescoes, painted in 1928, are based on the frescoes painted by Gallén-Kallela in the Finnish Pavilion of the Paris World Fair
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
in 1900.
The building of the National Museum was designed by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren
Armas Lindgren
Armas Eliel Lindgren was Finnish architect, professor and painter.- Biography :Armas Lindgren was born in Hämeenlinna on November 28, 1874. He studied architecture in the Polytechnic Institute of Helsinki, from where he graduated in 1897. While being a student he collaborated with Josef Stenbäck...
, and Eliel Saarinen
Eliel Saarinen
Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect who became famous for his art nouveau buildings in the early years of the 20th century....
. The appearance of the building reflects Finland's medieval churches and castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
s. The architecture belongs to national romanticism and the interior mainly to art nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
. The museum was built from 1905 to 1910 and opened to the public in 1916. The museum was named the Finnish National Museum after Finland's independence in 1917. After the last thorough renovation, the museum was opened in 2000.
Explosion in 2006
On Monday 23 January 2006 there was an explosionExplosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
accident at the National Museum in the Silver Room, which was probably caused by methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
leaking into a broom cupboard and lit by a spark from the electrical mains in the closet. There were two possible sources for the methane; a leak from a gas pipe under the nearby Museokatu street, or gas that developed on its own in the sewer. Later, police investigations found the cause to be a gas pipe leak http://www.hs.fi/uutiset/tuoreet/artikkeli/Kansallismuseon+r%C3%A4j%C3%A4hdyksen+syyn%C3%A4+maakaasuvuoto/1135218807492. Most display cases and some silver objects in the museum's Silver Room were damaged in the explosion, although most of them only mildly. All objects have been repaired during 2006. The Silver Room was re-opened to the public in early 2007.
External links
- The National Museum of Finland at the National Board of Antiquities
- Emporis – The National Museum of Finland
- Panoramic virtual tour inside the museum
- http://www.nba.fi/en/museum_of_cultures Museum of Cultures Helsinki