Cross surrounded by hundreds of candles at Malmi cemetery on Christmas Eve

The Malmi Cemetery ( fi, Malmin hautausmaa; sv, Malms begravningsplats) is a large

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

located at the corner between

Ring I Ring I (pronounced "ring one", fi, Kehä I, sv, Ring I) is the busiest road in Finland, carrying up to 113,000 vehicles per day. It is the innermost of the three beltways in the Greater Helsinki region, numbered as regional route 101 and ru ...

and the Lahti Highway ( E75) in the Malmi district in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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 is the largest cemetery in Finland in terms of both area and number of burials. It was a former training camp site for soldiers under the administration of the Finnish Crown. In the early 20th century, Malmi Cemetery even had its own train connection and water tower. Many well-known Finns also rest in the Malmi Cemetery, e.g. actors

Tauno Palo Tauno Valdemar Palo (born Tauno Brännäs; 25 October 1908 – 24 May 1982) was a Finnish actor and singer in what some consider the golden age of Finnish cinema. In ''Guide to the Cinema of Sweden and Finland'' Peter von Bagh names Palo as the ...

Matti Pellonpää Matti Pellonpää (28 March 1951 in Helsinki – 13 July 1995 in Vaasa) was a Finnish actor and a musician. He rose to international fame with his roles in both Aki Kaurismäki's and Mika Kaurismäki's films; particularly being a regular in Aki's ...

and Ansa Ikonen, singers Olavi Virta,

Tapio Rautavaara Kaj Tapio Rautavaara (8 March 1915 – 25 September 1979) was a Finnish singer (bass-baritone), athlete and film actor. Life Early years Tapio Rautavaara was born in the municipality of Pirkkala (now Nokia), a suburb of the industrial city o ...

and

Laila Kinnunen Laura “Laila” Annikki Kinnunen (8 November 1939, Vantaa – 26 October 2000, Heinävesi) was a Finnish singer. She was one of the most popular Finnish singers of the 1950s and 1960s, and represented Finland at the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest ...

, designer Birger Kaipiainen,Malmin hautausmaa - Stadissa
(in Finnish) and one of the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

heroes, Captain

Aarne Juutilainen Aarne Edward Juutilainen (; 18 October 1904 – 28 October 1976), nicknamed "The Terror of Morocco", was a Finnish army captain who served in the French Foreign Legion in Morocco between 1930 and 1935. After returning to Finland, he served ...

Area

The area of the Malmi Cemetery is 65 hectares, of which 54 hectares are cemeteries. Approximately 2,000 burials are carried out each year, which makes Malmi functionally the largest cemetery in Finland. There are a total of about 50,000 graves and about 200,000 burials have been made during the entire operation of the cemetery. Blocks 101–104 form a private Åberg Cemetery, which is not owned by the parish. However, the parish association manages it like any other cemetery.Malmin hautausmaan historia - Helsingin seurakuntayhtymä
(in Finnish) Block 91, on the other hand, is a former

Oulunkylä Oulunkylä ( sv, Åggelby, also known as ''Ogeli'') is a suburb and a neighbourhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is located north from the center of the city. It has been inhabited since the 13th century. Earlier an independent munic ...

municipality cemetery and heroes' cemetery area, which is connected to Malmi Cemetery.

Structures

The Malmi Chapel from 1923 was designed by architect Selim A. Lindqvist. Next to it are the smaller East, West and North Chapels, built in 1950, 1952 and 1956. The chapel building also houses a

crematorium A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also be ...

, which was completed in 1966. The new crematorium building was completed in November 2007 in the immediate vicinity of the chapel. A private

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

was built on the hill at the northern end of the cemetery in the 1930s and has since been decommissioned. The building is protected by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a ...

Former train connection

The old main gate of Malmi Cemetery is along Pihlajamäentie, which was once part of one of the main roads leading east and north of Helsinki. As the cemetery was quite far outside the city area when completed, a

funeral train A funeral train carries a coffin or coffins (caskets) to a place of interment by railway. Funeral trains today are often reserved for leaders, national heroes, or government officials, as part of a state funeral, but in the past were sometimes ...

rail connection was arranged there by building a two-kilometer-long power line from

Malmi railway station Malmi station ( fi, Malmin rautatieasema, sv, Malms järnvägsstation) is a railway station in the Malmi district of Helsinki, Finland. It is located between the stations of Pukinmäki and Tapanila, along the main railroad track from Helsinki ...

. Regular train traffic began as early as February 1895. The line was decommissioned in 1954.Malmin hautausmaalla riittää tarinoita eläville
(in Finnish)

Sources

Literature

* Marja Pehkonen: ''Hauraita muistoja Helsingin hautausmailta''. Helsingin kaupunginmuseo (Narinkka-sarja) 2008. * Antero Rautio: ''Pääkaupunkiseudun julkiset muistomerkit ja taideteokset''. Karisto, Hämeenlinna 1998. . * Kai Sadinmaa: ''Kuolleiden kirja – eli kuinka kävelin Suomen suurimman hautausmaan halki ja opin kaiken elämästä, hautaamisesta, rakkaudenkaipuusta ja puista''. Into, Helsinki 2019.

References

External links

Malmin hautausmaa - Helsingin seurakunnat
(in Finnish) *
Malmin hautausmaan historia ja alueet
(in Finnish) * {{Find a Grave cemetery, 2321410 Buildings and structures in Helsinki Cemeteries in Finland Lutheran cemeteries