Museum of Finland

The Museums Agency of Finland is a cultural heritage expert, service provider, developer and authority in the field. It collects, manages and presents cultural-historical national assets, stores, produces and transmits information.

The Museums Agency of Finland is responsible for the protection of the environment, archaeological and architectural heritage and cultural property of cultural-historical value together with other authorities and other museum institutions. It accumulates and exhibits national cultural-historical collections, studies material cultural heritage, and supports and develops museums throughout the country.

The Museums Agency provides a versatile and evolving service to all citizens. The Agency is affiliated to the Ministry of Education and Culture.

History of museum institutions

The first national institution in Finland to oversee the conservation of monuments, Arkeologinen toimisto, Arkeologisk Komission, was established on June 19, 1884. The name Muinaistieteellien koimkunta has been used since 1908. In 1972, the Antiquities Board was abolished and replaced by the Museums Administration.

Conservation of Antiquities during Swedish Rule
In Sweden, people became interested in their history and artifacts as early as the days of the Great Power, when they wanted to see the glorious and great past of the kingdom. The love of antiquities had political significance both abroad and at home. The topic was also connected to other scientific hobbies of the time. The phenomenon was pan-European. It was also connected to the simultaneous development of state administration.

Many operating methods and practices in this field, such as the cataloguing of cultural memory, were already formed in the 17th-18th centuries. The formation of public and private collections also began. In 1666, a poster for the protection of antiquities was published, and the Institute of Antiquities was established, whose task was to map and study archaeological and historical antiquities. The general law of 1734 also focused on the finds of movable objects.

Establishment of the Antiquities Committee

During the period of Finnish self-government, people developed a strong interest in history; although the country was not yet independent, it wanted to outline its own history. This hobby developed especially in universities and scientific societies. From the middle of the 19th century, the restoration aspect was already included in the construction management activities. The idea of ​​the National Museum of Finland was born in the 1870s. Old objects were collected and stored in the University's Museum of Historical Ethnology. At the end of the 19th century, it was also noted that medieval castles and churches had fallen into disrepair or collapsed in the construction projects of urbanized and industrialized societies.

In 1883, the Antiquities Ordinance was enacted, covering both fixed and movable antiquities. The decree required citizens to report ancient relics they found and imposed fines for destroying them.

The Office of Antiquities (Arkeologisk Komissionon) was established in 1884 to study and protect archaeological and historical and cultural monuments. The committee was headed by a state archaeologist and its members were representatives of universities, scientific societies, the Finnish Literary Society, the Finnish Historical Society and the Finnish Society of Antiquaries. From 1908 onwards, the office was called the Antiquities Committee.

In 1893, the country's most important cultural history museum collections were merged under the Antiquities Committee to form the National History Museum, which included the Archaeology, Cultural History and Ethnology departments. After the completion of the National Museum building, it was opened to the public in 1916 as the National Museum of Finland.

Changes in museum agencies

Over time, the protection of cultural memory evolved from the protection of selected monuments to the current protection of cultural heritage and cultural environment. Protection legislation was developed (Antiquities Act 1963, Building Protection Act 1964, 1985) and the cultural environment was included in land use planning (Land Use and Construction Act 2000).

Along with old cultural phenomena, new perspectives also emerged, such as working-class culture and the recording and research of industrial society and the present.

With the development, in 1972 the Antiquities Committee was changed to the Museum Office.