EXHIBITION
Hands on, brains on at Muisti!
The first exhibition, STATE OF EMERGENCY, focuses on the Second World War. The Second World War still touches people around the world, including in Finland, through their first-hand experiences, memories, literature, and movies. It is the most significant historical period to shape the European identity. As a result of the war, 69 million people lost their lives.
At Muisti, you get to empathise and reflect on what the people at the time went through, learn by doing and have an influence on your own exhibition experience. Muisti has nine different exhibits. Here we introduce a few of them.
EXHIBITION
Hands on, brains on at Muisti!
The first exhibition, STATE OF EMERGENCY, focuses on the Second World War. The Second World War still touches people around the world, including in Finland, through their first-hand experiences, memories, literature, and movies. It is the most significant historical period to shape the European identity. As a result of the war, 69 million people lost their lives.
At Muisti, you get to empathise and reflect on what the people at the time went through, learn by doing and have an influence on your own exhibition experience. Muisti has nine different exhibits. Here we introduce a few of them.
In the STORIES exhibit you choose one person, whose experiences of the war you want to hear about.
The stories are based on real people and real events. There are six stories in total, out of which two can be viewed every day. Would you choose the story of soldier on the frontline, the young woman being displaced by the war, the politician, the pacifist, or the child?
Ira’s story is about a hidden family secret and finding out the identity of her lost grandfather, who turned out to be a former Soviet prisoner-of-war.
Anja’s story tells of the pain of leaving one’s home and family behind because of the war.
Elsa’s story tells of war through the eyes of a child.
Väinö Tanner’s story tells of the experiences of a war-time minister.
Onni’s story tells the typical story of a young Finnish soldier on the frontline.
Arndt’s story tells of the treatment of a pacifist, who died for his beliefs.
Stories are in Finnish. We can change them in English on request.
Battlefield focuses on the harsh reality of war, killing, being wounded, mental health effects of war, but also of survival. The recommended age limit to the exhibit is 12 years, and there you get to virtually experience what it was like to be on the frontline.
The virtual reality experience is based on the battles between Finland and the Soviet Union in Summa on the Karelian isthmus. BATTLEFIELD also tells of the human cost of the war around the world.
What did women and children do during the war?
They were not merely its victims. Some women participated actively in the tasks demanded by the war efforts. Women became subject to many societal expectations, and they also created some for themselves. Children’s war was shadowed by fear and duty, but there were also moments of adventure and freedom.
In the HOME exhibit you get to interpret women and children’s war experiences through photographs.
The Headquarters Museum was established in 1974, when the office of the Commander-in-Chief Marshall Mannerheim was opened to the public.
In 2001, the museum was expanded to two floors and six exhibit rooms and restored to its original state during the Second World War. The Museum focuses on the leadership of war, the persona of Commander-in-Chief Marshall Mannerheim and Mikkeli as the Headquarters city.
