The Kangasniemi Museum

The Kangasniemi Museum is located in a stone granary built in 1913 in downtown Kangasniemi. The museum was established in 1954 by the Kangasniemi Museum and History Association, currently known as the Kangasniemi Local Heritage Association, which also sees to it that the museum is open with the cooperation of Kangasniemi municipality.

The museum exhibition discusses the livelihoods of the residents of Kangasniemi, focussing on agriculture, forestry and household crafts. In addition, the museum has the equipment of the Kangasniemi Pharmacy starting from the 1920s on display.

An interesting part of the exhibition is the equipment from the berry juice and soft-drink plant. Merchant Viktor Topelius set up a berry plant in Kangasniemi in 1907. Topelius also received a patent for the berry powder that he invented, which could be mixed with water to create soft drinks. In its heyday, the berry plant used even tens of thousands of kilograms of berries. At its peak, it employed 30 people. In addition, the plant provided people with the opportunity to earn additional income. Juice was exported, even all the way to America and Africa. As far as we know, berry juice from Kangasniemi was also offered to Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. In 1915, however, the berry plant shut down due to its plant buildings being destroyed by fire.

The museum also has a traditional Savo chimneyless hut that has been moved from Soukkio, Kangasniemi and that was still lived in in 1937. In the dim hut, modern-day visitors can find out what kind of humble conditions many Finns lived in less than 100 years ago. Even though it might seem dark to visitors used to what Finns live in nowadays, the previous tenant referred to it as “the warm house”.

Across from the museum is Kangasniemi’s wooden church, which was consecrated on New Year’s Day, 1815. All of the services of downtown Kangasniemi are located within the immediate vicinity of the museum.