Tampere Lenin Museum

Tampere Lenin Museum
Museum of the Vladimir Lenin in Tampere, Finland
Lenin Museum in Tampere, Finland
Map
Former name
  • Finnish Lenin Museum
  • Lenin Museo
  • Tampere Workers’ Hall
Established20 January 1946 (1946-01-20)
Dissolved3 November 2024 (2024-11-03)
LocationTampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland
Coordinates61°29′45″N 23°45′06″E / 61.4958°N 23.7517°E / 61.4958; 23.7517
TypeMultiple generational history
HistorianFinnish Labour Museum Werstas
Owner
  • Finland-Russia Society
  • Finland-Soviet Union Society
Websitewww.lenin.fi/en/

The Tampere Lenin Museum (Finnish: Lenin-museo) was a museum devoted to Vladimir Lenin in Tampere, Finland. It was established in 1946 by the Finland–Soviet Union Society, and lately was ran by The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas. It was the first museum dedicated to Lenin outside the Soviet Union.

History

The museum is located in the Tampere Workers' Hall. Built in 1900, the building hosted underground meetings of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1905 and 1906. During December 1905, Vladimir Lenin met Joseph Stalin in person for the first time at the Tampere conference of 1905 deliberating the civil disorder of the Russian Revolution of 1905.

The museum has a permanent exhibition with material related to Lenin's life and the history of the Soviet Union. It also organizes varying exhibitions on different themes.[1] The museum was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples in 1986 by the council of Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the museum has developed a more critical view to Lenin's work and the Soviet Union.[2]

In April 2024, the museum announced that it would close at the end of the year and reopen in February 2025 under the name Nootti, in reference to the Note Crisis in 1961 between Finland and the Soviet Union. The museum's director, Kalle Kallio, said that the changes were meant to reflect the changes in Finland–Russia relations and added that the museum's old name did not "do justice" to its exhibits.[3][4] The museum closed on 3 November 2024.[5]

Frontal view of Lenin Museum
Exterior signage of Lenin Museum
Entrance to Tampere Workers’ Hall
Finnish Lenin Museum observance plaque
Gallery of Tampere Workers’ Hall

References

  1. ^ Visit Tampere Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  2. ^ Tampere Lenin Museum Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Goodbye Lenin — Tampere museum commemorating Soviet revolutionary to close". Yle. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  4. ^ Crossland, David (24 April 2024). "History catches up with Europe's last Lenin museum". The Times. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  5. ^ Fenbert, Abbey (4 November 2024). "Finland closes world's last Lenin museum outside Russia". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 4 November 2024.

See also

Bolshevik Party Russian State Duma
Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union Tauride Palace
Russian Empire Treaty for Establishment of Soviet Union