The Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd Museum, Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland
5.0 (4 reviews) Sunday: Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #5 in Seinajoki Military Museums
Interesting museum with enthusiastic staff
Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd museum. Built in 1924-1926. Designed by Alvar Aalto. The Civil Guard house of Southern Ostrobothnia. Green main building has exhibitions on three floors. Bottom floor has a ball room and veterans organizations exhibition, middle floor has a Lotta Svärd exhibition, Second floor is the former home of South Ostrobothnian Civil Guard leader Matti Laurila and his family and has an exhibition about Jägers and the Civil Guard. The white yard house has three smaller exhibitions, one of which being an exhibition that changes once a year or once every two years.
Address
Kauppakatu 17, Seinajoki 60100 Finland
Mobile
Website
https://www.seinajoki.fi/en/culture-and-sports/museum/museums/
Working hours
Monday :
Tuesday :
Wednesday : 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday :
Current local date and time now
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 11:40
User Ratings
5.0 based on (4 reviews)
Reviews
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5Gregory W 5:00 PM Jul 20, 2018
Now For Something Completely Different
This museum offers a new perspective on the difficult balancing Finland had to do in dealing with Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
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5Wallriver 5:00 PM Dec 7, 2017
A remarkable piece of architecture and war history
Civil Guard and Lotta Svard Museum was designed by world famous architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976). It is extraordinary that in the very same town, Seinäjoki, there are works from an artist’s early years (1924-26) as well as modern buildings, so called Aalto Center. This attraction consists of two buildings, the main house and a bit Mediterranean style back yard house. In the garden, there is also a statue of Civil Guard soldier. This house served as Civil Guard’s Ostrobothnian region headquarter, where later Colonel Matti Laurila was its leader. The Civil Guard and Lottas were denied by Russians in the Moscow Truce in 1944. They had been too strong actors in preventing Soviet Union to conquer Finland. After the Second World War Colonel Laurila was living in that house with her wife until his death. He had cherished the memory of the Civil Guard Headquarter as well as arcitecht Aalto’s early work. He had let make only minimal modernizations in the house, despite it was his home. Consequently, after Colonel Laurila’s passing there was a ready made museum for architecture and Civil Guards and its female part, the Lottas. The museum represents the history of the Civil Guard and Lotta Svärd but it also tells about the War of Independence as well as the Winter War and Continuation War against the Soviet Union and the War in Lapland, against the German Army.
