Qualla: The Artillery Museum of Finland

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Introduction

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Balcer, CC BY 2.5. Outside of Russia itself, no other museum in the world has assembled a more complete collection of Russian and Soviet artillery than the one in Hameenlinna. The reason is geography and history. Finland fought three wars against the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1944, and Finnish artillerymen captured (or held off) Soviet guns of every era from tsarist field pieces to Stalin-era howitzers. After 1945 the Finnish military preserved them rather than scrap them, and by the time the museum found its current home in 1997 the collection numbered over 90 different cannon, plus rocket launchers and heavy mortars, parked in a courtyard barracks the Russians themselves had built in the 19th century.

Image: Balcer | CC BY 2.5

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Niinisalo to Hameenlinna

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Balcer~commonswiki, CC BY 2.5. The idea of a Finnish artillery museum had been kicked around in the 1930s, then shelved by the Second World War. It came back in the early 1970s. Proximity to a working artillery garrison was thought essential, and the empty Saloharju school in Niinisalo, deep in the rural provi...

Image: Balcer~commonswiki | CC BY 2.5

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Built by Russia, Now a Finnish Museum

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Kanta-Hämeen kuvapankki, CC0. The buildings of Linnankasarmi are themselves part of the story. They were built during the Russian autonomy period of 1809-1917, when Finland was a Grand Duchy under the Russian crown and the imperial government was establishing garrison towns to support its forces. Construction...

Image: Kanta-Hämeen kuvapankki | CC0

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Three Floors of Cannon

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MKFI, Public domain. The permanent exhibition climbs three floors. The ground floor begins in the 15th century and follows artillery development through the Finnish War of 1808-1809, the Russian autonomy period, the Finnish Civil War of 1918, and the Jager Movement (the Finnish nationalists who train...

Image: MKFI | Public domain

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Ninety Cannons in a Courtyard

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MKFI, Public domain. The real spectacle is outside. The gun yard holds the bulk of the museum's collection of 90 cannons, parked in rows like a vast metal vintage car show. Russian 76mm field guns, Soviet 122mm howitzers, German Nebelwerfer rocket launchers, British 4.5-inch howitzers (model Mk2), So...

Image: MKFI | Public domain

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Now Part of Museo Militaria

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Balcer, CC BY 2.5. On 4 December 2012 the Artillery Museum of Finland threw a farewell party at its Gun Hall. From 1 January 2013 the premises at Linnankasarmi were taken over by Museo Militaria, a new combined military history museum that merged the Artillery Museum with the Pioneerimuseo (Enginee...

Image: Balcer | CC BY 2.5

The Artillery Museum of Finland: Hameenlinna from Above

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Argus fin, CC BY-SA 3.0. Hameenlinna sits in southern Finland's lake district, the great brick block of Hame Castle on the shore of Lake Vanajavesi. The Linnankasarmi barracks complex, with the artillery museum's open gun yard, occupies the space between the castle and the modern town. From the air the l...

Image: Argus fin | CC BY-SA 3.0