The Museum of Winter and Continuation War in Säkylä

The Museum of Winter and Continuation War was established in 1990. The history of the museum’s creation is interesting. Initially there was a need for a lot of properties in order to create a realistic scenery for the movie ”Talvisota”, directed by Pekka Parikka. That is why the current curator of the museum, Ilpo Nurmi, started collecting property related to Winter and Continuation War all over Finland. Later on an exhibition composed of this property was put on display on various towns in Finland. The exhibition was a success and consequently generated the idea of establishing a museum based on the exhibition. By the year 2010 there has already been over 188 000 visitors.

The museum is thematically organized. The visitor can sense the atmosphere in the reconstructed bunker and examine wartime products in the canteen. Personal belongings and handcrafts of soldiers are on display in the showcases. The soldiers’ and volunteers’ clothing can be seen on the lay figures around the museum. An ensemble of their own are the weapons.

The museum is situated in the industrial area of Köörnummi in Säkylä and it operates in the same building with the company Milform.