The Old Student House (, colloquially called ''Vanha'', "the old one"; ) is the former student house of the

Student Union of the University of Helsinki The Student Union of the University of Helsinki (, HYY, , HUS) was founded in 1868. It has about 27,000 members. The union used to be one of the world's richest student organizations, with assets of several hundred million euros. Among other thing ...

, located in central

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, near the crossing of

Aleksanterinkatu Aleksanterinkatu (; "Alexander Street") is a street in Kluuvi, the commercial centre of Helsinki, Finland. In the city plan by Carl Ludvig Engel, it was the ''Decumanus Maximus'', the main east–west street in the city, crossing the ''Cardo'', ...

and

Mannerheimintie Mannerheimintie () (previously known as ''Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Henrikinkatu'', ''Läntinen ja Itäinen Heikinkatu'', ''Turuntie'', ''Läntinen viertotie'', ''Heikinkatu''), colloquially known as Mansku, named after the Finni ...

Description

The building was designed by

Axel Hampus Dalström Axel Hampus Dalström (22 March 1829 – 19 March 1882), was a Finnish architect. He was the director of the National Board of Public Building from 1869 to 1882.neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

style of architecture. The student house was originally built at the edge of the city centre, so the students' parties would not disturb other citizens. The construction was funded by a collection from the citizens. In dedication of this collection, the façade of the building bears the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

inscription ''Spei suae patria dedit'' ("Fatherland gave to its hope"). Nowadays, the student house is located in the inner centre of Helsinki, near the Three Smiths Statue. Near the student house is located the New Student House, completed in 1910. At that point the Old Student House got its current name. In 1938 there was a discussion about whether the Old Student House should be dismantled to give place for a new business house. On November 25, 1968, one day prior to the Student Union's centennial celebration, a large group of students occupied the Old Student House which was designated as the location of the festivities. There was a fire in 1978 that badly damaged the building. Old Student House contains many famous

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

themed works of art, such as

Akseli Gallen-Kallela Akseli Gallen-Kallela (born Axel Waldemar Gallén; 26 April 1865 – 7 March 1931) was a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic poetry, epic. His work is considered a very importa ...

's mural '' Kullervo Rides to War'' and

Robert Wilhelm Ekman Robert Wilhelm Ekman (August 13, 1808 – February 19, 1873), R. W. Ekman, was a significant teacher and painter of the Finnish romantic portraits and early national romanticism. Childhood and Arts Education Robert Ekman was born in Uusikaupun ...

's 390 cm tall painting ''Väinämöinen's Play''.

Choirs and orchestra

Three choirs and one symphony orchestra rehearse in the Music Hall of Old Student House: * Akademiska Sångföreningen * YL Male Voice Choir * Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra *

Akademiska Damkören Lyran The Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran (, ), also referred to as simply , is a Finland-Swedish academic female voice choir in Helsinki, Finland. It is the only women's choir affiliated with the University of Helsinki The University of ...

Gallery

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Helsinki Renaissance Revival architecture School buildings completed in 1870 Kluuvi University of Helsinki