A bronze

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

Gustaf Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comma ...

, the

Marshal of Finland In Finnish Defence Forces Field Marshal ( fi, sotamarsalkka, lit=War Marshal, sv, fältmarskalk) is officially not an active military rank but an honorary rank that can be bestowed upon 'especially distinguished generals'. So far the only hold ...

, stands in centre of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It was made by

Aimo Tukiainen Aimo Johan Kustaa Tukiainen (1917–1996) was a sculptor from Finland. His best-known work is the Equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim in Helsinki. Tukiainen's wide and versatile production mainly consists of a large amount of monumental work ...

and erected in 1960. The bronze statue is 5.4 m tall. It is raised on a granite podium, 6.3 m tall, 6.3 m long and 2.72 m wide. Mannerheim was a symbolic figure in Finland at since the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

1918 as a general, and his position grew stronger during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

as a field marshal. The first plans and fundraising for an equestrian statue started already in 1937. After his death in 1951 the plans were relaunched by initiative of the Helsinki University Students' Union. During the fundraising campaign 737 503 members of public donated over 78 million marks in 1952. The funds were sufficient for not only the statue but also for purchasing the Louhisaari mansion in

Askainen Askainen (; sv, Villnäs) is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Lemu, it was consolidated with Masku on January 1, 2009. It is located in southwestern part of the country in the Varsinais-Suomi region. The municipality had a po ...

, Mannerheim's place of birth, which was turned into a museum. The statue was commissioned from Aimo Tukiainen after a competition. Tukiainen made a realistic and detailed statue of the horse-riding Mannerheim. At its unveiling in 1960 the art world considered it out-dated. In his contemporary works Tukiainen himself had already moved on from realism. The features of the horse, its gait and which of the Marshal's horses it actually represents have been discussed a lot. During his life Mannerheim owned several horses. Tukiainen studied Mannerheim's last horse Käthy when working on the statue, but it is not a portrait of her as such. The construction of the

Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...

, Museum of Contemporary Art next to the statue was debated during the time of construction of the museum.

References

{{Helsinki Cityscape

Mannerheim Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (, ; 4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as Regent of Finland (1918–1919), as comm ...

Bronze sculptures in Finland Statues and sculptures in Helsinki Statues of heads of government Statues of military officers Cultural depictions of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim