Engineers Museum
| Established | 12 May 1945 in Koria to 2004 30 June 2007 in Miehikkälä |
|---|---|
| Location | Keskustie 21, FI-49700 MIEHIKKÄLÄ, Finland N 60°39.943' E 027°41.566' |
| Type | official scientific special military history museum since 24 March 1987, on the bases of the decision by the minister of defence, Veikko Pihlajamäki |
| Visitors | from 1800 to 2200 annually open from Tuesday to Sunday in June, July and August |
| Director | lieutenant colonel, retired, Jaakko Martikainen jaakko.martikainen (a) pioneeriaselajinliitto.net |
| Website |
http://www.pioneerimuseo.fi languages of correspondence: English and Finnish eila.manninen (a) miehikkala.fi |
The Engineers Museum (officially The pioneer museum, in Finnish: valtakunnallinen, i.e., all-national, Pioneerimuseo, in Russian: Музей саперных войск) is the oldest corps museum in Finland. It was opened 13 May 1945 in the garrison of Koria, which was the part of Elimäki municipality, now Kouvola town. The Engineers Museum has the status of the scientific military museum and it is supervised by the Military Museum of Finland (in Finnish: Sotamuseo). The Engineers Museum was re-opened in Miehikkälä in 2007.
The Engineers Museum will stay in Miehikkälä still in 2012. In 2013 it will be opened in Hämeenlinna near The Artillery Museum of Finland. Two other attractions related to the Engineer corps of Finland will stay at their present places: Salpa Line museum and the Bunker museum.
The history of the Engineer Museum starts in 1929, when a second lieutenant Eero-Eetu Saarinen made a proposal to the commander of the engineer battalion, concerning an engineer corps museum. The engineer troops started to collect materials for the museum. Most of the collectibles achieved by Saarinen got lost during the Winter War.
On 12 May 1945 lieutenant colonel Eero-Eetu Saarinen delivered an opening speech of the museum. The museum worked in the barracks until 1965, when the municipality of Elimäki donated a log house the museum, so that the museum could become enlarged.
Already in the beginning of the 1970s it became obvious that a new building would be needed. In the Koria garrison area, which was the main base of the Engineers corps, the new build main building was built opened by the lieutenant colonel Eero-Eetu Saarinen 25 July 1974 in Kivimäki of Koria. The next year, in 1975, the Pioneeriaselajin Liitto ry, was established to govern the Engineers Museum.
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Wikipedia