The Artillery Museum of Finland, Hämeenlinna, Finland

The Artillery Museum of Finland is a special military museum dedicated to the history of the artillery from the 15th century to the present day. It was located in Niinisalo from 1977 to 1997 and in 1997 relocated to Hämeenlinna.

There are almost a hundred guns, grenade launchers and rocket launchers of different make from 13 different countries. The gun collection of the museum is unique, the most comprehensive in the Scandinavia. As far as it is known there is no other museum outside Russia with a collection on Russian and Soviet artillery equipment as exhaustive as this.

The buildings of museum, Linnankasarmi, date back to the Russian regime, to the Autonomy 1809–1917. The construction of the barracks started in 1850 and was completed in 1913. The archaeological committee values Linnankasarmi quite highly as a traditional military area and prehistoric site because the medieval town of Hämeenlinna has once been here and its remains are still under the barrack yard. More over, Häme Castle is right next door and its century's long tradition includes also artillery.

Reference: Wikipedia

User Reviews

Irene Moore (2 years ago)
This museum has an extensive collection of artifacts/weaponry and details the history of war and conflict in Finland

Prasanna Kumar (2 years ago)
Spread between buildings on multiple floors and outside yards for heavy artillery. Buying a combo ticket with castle and Prison museum will cost you 19 Eur, and needs to be purchased at the castle. If buying a separate Artillery museum, it costs 10Eur Adult price. Knowing Finnish History and its wars will help you enjoy the museum. If you lack that knowledge and are not familiar with Ammunition in general it will be just a stroll.

Pasi J (2 years ago)
Lot of seeing in 3 different floor's and also outside exhibition. Also restaurant. Taketime to 1-2 hours.

Robin Bobin (7 years ago)
Nice place inside and outside. Can be interesting for that who knows or is interested in story of swastika in Finland - it used since 1920 in Suomi (Army, Navy, Air Force) and is not "German idea". This is the real history of Finland and just respect it!

Estelle Reynolds (7 years ago)
Very interesting, even for someone who isn't really interested in military matters. The history of Finland was described wonderfully. However, the translations into English seemed to stop on the second floor! Very friendly lady at reception.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Infomastern

Historic Site of the week

Visby Cathedral

Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.

Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.

There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.

The Artillery Museum of Finland

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Visby Cathedral