City Museum celebrates 475 years of Helsinki
This year marks the 475th anniversary of the founding of Helsinki. The City Museum will naturally be participating in the festivities and will invite everyone to learn more about the history of Helsinki.
Helsinki was founded in 1550, and no expense is spared when putting on anniversary festivities, especially for round numbers. In 1950, the city celebrated with an impressive 400th anniversary parade, and in 2000, when Helsinki celebrated its 450th anniversary, the parade was even grander as the city was also one of the European Capitals of Culture.
Residents of Helsinki from the past and present met during the Night of the Arts in 2000. Photo: Heidi Richert / Helsinki City Museum.
Encounters since the year 2000
The City Museum has been a natural part of the planning and production of the Helsinki jubilee celebrations. The museum was especially invested in planning for the celebration in 2000 by producing two exhibitions and publishing 24 Näitä polkuja (These paths) walking tour brochures.
By far the most ambitious of the museum’s jubilee projects was Kohtaamisia (Encounters), in which museum staff brought forty historical figures of Helsinki from the 16th to the 20th centuries back to life. All figures received a period costume – mostly a copy, of course – and a role based on a real historical person.
City residents had the opportunity to meet residents of Helsinki from the past in the jubilee year and long after in various events in museums and elsewhere. The most prominent of them was the Sofian päivä (Sofia’s day) street party on Sofiankatu and the historical picnic events where delicacies from past centuries were served on the grounds of the Tuomarinkylä Manor Museum.
Over the years, the museum’s premises, activities and event concepts along with the staff changed. The picnics and the street parties gradually petered out, and finally the costumes were only taken out for guided tours even though new costumes acquired for exhibition-themed special events were added to the costume collection.
In the jubilee of 2000, the historical picnic was held in Kaivopuisto. Photo: Heidi Richert / Helsinki City Museum.
Return of former Helsinki residents
This year, Helsinki’s 475th anniversary offers an excellent opportunity to return to the jubilee atmosphere of a quarter of a century ago and to highlight Helsinki residents of the past – now revitalised by new generations of museum staff. This time, the museum wants to bring the history of Helsinki close to the residents outside the city centre as well.
The jubilee is crowned on Helsinki Day Thursday 12 June at 13.00–15.00 with a historical picnic in the garden of Villa Hakasalmi. Residents of Helsinki past will arrive and enjoy delicacies from their own era under canopies while music plays. The public is welcome to participate in the picnic by bringing their own snacks and enjoy the summer in the heart of Helsinki. If it rains, the picnic will be held inside the villa. There will be free admission to the event and the Glamour and Curtsy exhibition to celebrate Helsinki Day.