Back to the museums' homepage Back to the museums' homepage

Permanent exhibition (closed for renovation)

Ostrobothnian Museum

12 € / 7 € / 0 €

The Silver Room, the Coin Cabinet, and the Civil War Memorial Hall

Permanent exhibition

Items from the museum’s special collections, such as the silver and coin collections, are on permanent display in the exhibition spaces at the Ostrobothnian Museum. The museum’s Civil War Memorial Hall is a historical monument to the events that occurred around the time Finland gained independence.

The Silver Room

Karl Hedman’s silver collection comprises silverware originating from Vaasa and elsewhere in Finland and Europe. Ingvald Sourander (1874-1961), an engineer born in Vaasa, donated his silver collection to the Ostrobothnian Museum in 1929. It includes a selection of Finnish silver from the 18th and 19th centuries as well as pieces by Finnish masters who for periods of time worked in St Petersburg.

The Coin Cabinet

Closed for renovation at the moment.

Located on the ground floor of the museum, the Coin Cabinet houses the coin collection of Councillor of State Mauritz Hallberg (1851-1924). It comprises metal coins in use in Finland during the Swedish and Russian eras as well as Finnish ‘markka’ currency up until the currency reform in 1963. The collection was donated to the Ostrobothnian Museum in 1956.

The Memorial Hall

Karl Hedman designed the Memorial Hall located on the ground floor of the museum to honour Finland’s struggle for independence and the events surrounding it. The bronze busts of the leading figures on the ‘white’ side of the civil war, the foremost of these being Supreme Commander C.G. Mannerheim and Head of State P.E. Svinhufvud, are prominently displayed. The names of the Jägers who died in Germany are engraved in marble in the hall. The window in the Memorial Hall features Henry Ericsson’s stained glass painting ‘Our Nation’. A chandelier taken as a spoil of war from St Mary’s Church in the 18th century and returned to Vaasa during the First World War hangs from the ceiling. This Hall, a historical monument of its time, serves as a reminder of Vaasa’s role as the capital of the ‘white’ side of the struggle in 1918.