Jakobstads museum

About the museum

Jakobstads museum is a historical city museum founded in 1904, with shipping and shipbuilding as its focus. The city museum itself is located in the Malmska gården on Storgatan, which was built in 1836–1838 by shipowner and merchant Peter Malm and designed by the Helsinki architect Anders Fredrik Granstedt. The house is furnished as a shipowner’s home with a shipowner’s office from the later part of the 19th century, ship portraits and ship models, and there is also an exhibition on the history of the town.

In one of the outbuildings the museum shows four basic exhibitions: a country shop and a worker’s dwelling reflecting the 1950s, a farmhouse from around 1900 and a rigging loft (tackelkammare). The exhibition hall Tempus opened in spring 2023 and shows exhibitions focusing on local history and on art by artists connected with the area.

The museum also manages Strengbergs Tobaksmuseum in the old tobacco factory, Runebergs stuga by Östanpå and Westmansmors stuga on Visasbacken. The collections consist of objects, art and textiles, and the museum’s photographic collections are among the largest in the country. The museum archive holds personal history collections as well as the archives of associations and companies, and the museum has its own library.

Highlights

• Malmska gården, a shipowner’s home from the 1830s
• Maritime history with ship portraits and ship models
• Country shop and worker’s dwelling from the 1950s
• Strengberg Tobacco Museum, unique in Finland
• Runeberg’s cabin and Westmansmor’s cabin
• Audio guide Maria berättar in several languages

Permanent exhibitions

• Malmska gården – sjöfart och handelshusets historia – Shipowner’s home with period interiors from the later part of the 19th century, ship portraits, ship models and an exhibition on the history of the town.
• Basutställningar i ekonomibyggnaden – A country shop and a worker’s dwelling from the 1950s, a farmhouse from around 1900 and a rigging loft for sails, ropes and other sailing-ship equipment.
• Strengbergs Tobaksmuseum – A unique tobacco museum in the old tobacco factory, telling of tobacco manufacturing in Jakobstad from 1762 to 1998.

Founded

1904

Operated by

Jakobstads stad

Admission & discounts

Museokortti (Finnish Museum Card) is valid at Malmska gården and at the exhibition hall Tempus.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description

The audio guide is also available as an audio-described version in Swedish and Finnish.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

The museum regularly arranges exhibitions and events for children and young people, including an annual Christmas cottage (julstuga) and children’s events in Malmska gården. The children’s audio guide is available in three languages. Children under 18 enter free of charge.

Getting there & parking

Malmska gården is at Storgatan 2 in the centre of Jakobstad, and the office is at Storgatan 4.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

The museum shop in Malmska gården sells local history books, handicrafts, wooden toys and textiles, and is open during the museum’s opening hours; no ticket is needed to visit the shop.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent

The exhibition hall Tempus, and the hall and dining room of Malmska gården, can be rented for exhibitions.

Plan your visit