Earlier this autumn we heard the news about many volcanic eruptions on the island La Palma in the northern Canary islands of Spain. There has been many big volcanic eruptions around the world through history. In many cases these have had a vast impact on history. One of these volcanic eruptions occurred in 79 AD. At this time the volcano Vesuvius 10 kilometers southeast of Naples erupted. This influenced among other things the style that now is represented at Hertonäs Manor for all to be seen. How is the volcanic eruption reflected in the present exhibitions? How does the Antique period still affect what is displayed at Hertonäs Manor? In this blogtext I will focus on this theme. Read more below for more information about Vesuvius and Antique influences on Hertonäs Manor. Read more »

During the last few years there has been discussions about how to support the environmental movement and a sustainable future in museums. Hertonäs Manor Museum has worked with this for a few years now and we strive to develop so called green values. This was recently discussed at an international congress arranged by ICOM and at a local seminar arranged by Helsinki City Museum. A small museum like ours still has many aims to support the development. Read more below! Read more »

Photographic history is filled with many inventors and inventions, which all together have contributed to photography as we know it today. Most breakthroughs were made during the first half of the 1800s, when different chemical components, materials and mixtures were developed. Photography quickly gained popularity among all socioeconomic classes. Read more below! Read more »

Hertonäs Manor Museum is owned and run by an association, Svenska Odlingens Vänner i Helsinge r.f. (SOV) that was formed on 21st January 1906. During this period many large social changes underwent in Finland and people took active part in modernaizing the country. This was the fact with those who also formed SOV. Read more below!Read more »

I started my internship at Hertonäs Manor Museum on the seventh of June 2021. Up to now I have catalogued over 1000 photos (more than 60 collections) from the picture archive of Hertonäsi Manor to the Desky website. There are still more photos to catalogue and later this summer the physical collection needs to be photographed and catalogued. When I catalogued the collections, I bumped into a collection of photos of a movie that has been filmed at Herttonäs Manor. The name of the movie is The Old Baron of Rautakylä (Swe. Gamla baron på Rautakylä, Fin. Rautakylän vanha parooni) from 1923. Read more down below!Read more »

Hertonäs Manor Museum can, like other museums, get a small amount of new objects to its collections. But the object ought to be very special, since the space is limited. This year we have bought a drawing by Carl Gabriel von Spången, whose father Bengt Gabriel owned the manor in the 18th century. Read more below!Read more »

The 21st of January 2021 a course on professional work in the cultural sector was started at the University of Helsinki. The idea was to give students a taste of how much work goes into building an exhibition with a historical theme - the students worked on an exhibition of their own at the Herttoniemi manor museum to achieve this goal. The course was led by university lecturer Derek Fewster and the curator of Herttoniemi manor museum, Eva Ahl-Waris, and eight bachelor’s degree students from the historical programme as well as one master’s degree student from the programme of Culture and Communications took part in the course. Over the course of four months they produced “Summer and Games”, an exhibition about 19th century childhood which consists of a physical toy exhibition as well as a virtual one, hosted on the platform bookcreator.com. The physical part of the exhibition is available to the public every Sunday from May until September at 12-14 o’clock. Continue reading below to find out more!Read more »

After the assembly of the land in Porvoo in 1809 the estates of Finland had not been called for to meet in 54 years. The Supreme Emperor Alexander II of Russia was also Grand Duke of Finland. He summoned the estates to a new assembly in Helsinki in 1863. The emperor himself opened the meeting solemnly with a speech 18th September 1863. The speech and the year 1863 are visible on the monument commemorating Alexander II in the Senate Square. At the assembly, the Finnish estates decided that new laws and decrees should be legislated in Finland. The land assembly began to meet regularly. The emperor kept the right of veto for himself regarding the Finnish constitution. Privy councillor Gabriel Anton Cronstedt and his brother, the senator of the economic department Carl Olof Cronstedt, attended the land assembly. More information about this period can be found at Hertonäs manor. Read more below!Read more »

Officers and vice admirals, burgers and landowners - as well as the employees in modern museums - all have something in common since the 18th century: we all love the liquor punch. In the collections of Hertonäs manor museum many objects relate to this golden alcohol that reach our country via the global trade. For example several things owned by vice admiral Cronstedt tells about the popularity of this beverage in the late 18th century and early 19th century. Read more below! Read more »

Abraham Wetter (appr. 1690-1737) was born in about 1690 in Stockholm, but grew up and worked in Helsinki. He was the owner of Hertonäs Manor in the 1730s and advanced to mayor of Helsinki during the period of the difficult age of rebuilding after the Great Nordic War (1700-21). Read more about Abraham below! Read more »