Helsinki City Museum was founded in 1911 to document and present the history of Helsinki.

Woman selling flowers in front of the Havis Amanda statue in the Market Square during the Winter War 1940. Havis Amanda has a protection shield built around it. Photographer: unidentified, source: Helsinki City Museum

Helsinki City Museum employs conservators of objects, textiles, furniture, paper and buildings. The conservators are primarily responsible for preserving the Museum’s collection. Preservation of the historical information contained in museum objects is safeguarded by studying and documenting an object’s material, structure, production methods, damage, changes and defects. Studies enable the Museum to choose the conservation action required and the right storage conditions.

The photograph collections have been added to since 1906. The collection is based on photos of those parts of Helsinki that were disappearing or changing. Commissioned by the Museum, the photos were taken between 1907 and 1913 by photographer Signer Brander. Today, the Picture Archive contains over 800,000 photographs, slides, postcards and prints. One example is the image on the right, photograph from 1940′s.

Helsinki City Museum houses all of these: City Museum and Streetmuseum on Sofiankatu, Sederholm House, Hakasalmi Villa, Burgher’s House, Worker Housing Museum, Tuomarinkylä Museum, Tram Museum and Power Station Museum.

There are plenty of events this year. Read more from here.

And don’t forget that the entry to all the museums is always free!