Helsingin Kaupunginmuseo

Helsinki


This museum complex spreads over five buildings from different eras, including Sederholmin talo, Helsinki’s oldest central building (dating from 1757 and built by a wealthy merchant). They're linked by a contemporary structure, along with four other museums at separate locations. The must-see of the bunch is the main museum. Its collection of 450,000 historical artefacts and more than one million photographs is backed up by entertaining information piecing together Helsinki’s transition from Swedish to Russian hands and on into independence.

There are three beautiful inner courtyards.

Its other museums all have free entry and focus on an aspect of the city’s past or present through permanent and temporary exhibitions. The delightful Ratikkamuseo displays vintage trams and depicts daily life in Helsinki’s streets in past decades. Mustard-coloured Ruiskumestarin talo is set in central Helsinki’s oldest wooden townhouse, built in 1818. The Työväenasuntomuseo shows how industrial workers lived in the early 20th century.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Helsinki attractions

1. Senaatintori

0.04 MILES

From the kauppatori walk up the cobbled Sofiankatu to Senaatintori, Helsinki's majestic central square. Surrounded by early 19th-century buildings, the…

2. Tuomiokirkko

0.09 MILES

One of Carl Ludvig Engel’s finest creations, the chalk-white neoclassical Lutheran cathedral presides over Senaatintori (Senate Sq). Created to serve as a…

3. Havis Amanda

0.1 MILES

Near the kauppatori, this bronze statue is the symbol of the city. Sculpted by Ville Vallgren in 1906 in Paris, and installed here in 1908, the nude…

4. Kauppatori

0.14 MILES

The heart of central Helsinki is the harbourside kauppatori (market square), where cruises and ferries leave for archipelago islands. It's completely…

5. Johan Ludvig Runeberg Statue

0.17 MILES

Finland's national poet and composer of the Finnish national anthem, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, is commemorated by a statue in the city's central Esplanadin…

6. Esplanadin Puisto

0.17 MILES

Locally known as 'Espa', oblong-shaped Esplanadi stretches for four blocks between the squares Erottaja to the west and the kauppatori to the east…

7. Presidentinlinna

0.17 MILES

Overlooking the kauppatori, the striking neoclassical Presidentinlinna was designed by CL Engel and is one of the head of state's official residences. The…

8. Ateneum

0.27 MILES

Occupying a palatial 1887 neo-Renaissance building, Finland’s premier art gallery offers a crash course in the nation’s art. It houses Finnish paintings…