Lapuan kaupungin kulttuurihistoriallinen museo

About the museum

The Lapua city culture-history museums operate in Vanha Paukku, on the former site of the cartridge factory. The state cartridge factory was established in Lapua by a decision of Parliament in 1923, and its official opening was held in January 1925. The factory was a key employer and, in the war years, an important part of Finland's defence-materiel production. The last operations were moved from the centre to Jouttikallio in the mid-1990s, after which the city bought the factory properties and turned the area into a culture and business centre.

The Lapua Cartridge Factory Museum was established in 2006 in the factory hall of the Iso tehdas (Big Factory) building. A new basic exhibition opened on the factory's centenary, 31 January 2025. It tells the story of the cartridge industry and its workers from the 1920s to the 2020s, using machines, photographs, presentation videos and oral history interviews.

In the same complex are the Lapuanliikkeen museo (Lapua Movement museum), which presents the history of the anti-communist movement in Finland in 1929–1944, and the Pyhälahti photo studio museum, whose collections are based on some 100,000 negatives and photographs from a photo studio that operated in Lapua from 1900 to 1980.

Highlights

• Centenary exhibition of the cartridge factory in an authentic factory hall
• Large cartridge machines and presentation videos by former workers
• Lapuanliikkeen museo (1929–1944)
• Pyhälahti photo studio museum, about 100,000 photographs
• Free admission to all museums

Permanent exhibitions

• Lapuan patruunatehtaan museon perusnäyttely – The centenary history of the cartridge industry, factory culture and the voices of the workers; machines, photographs, videos and a listening point are on display.
• Lapuanliikkeen museo – The exhibition tells of the Lapua Movement and the anti-communist agitation in 1929–1944.
• Pyhälahden valokuvaamomuseo – A history of Finnish photography through the collections of the photo studio that operated in Lapua in 1900–1980.

Founded

2006

Operated by

Lapuan kaupunki

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the museums is free.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

• Restaurant
• Museum shop

The Vanha Paukku site has a lunch restaurant, a brewery restaurant and a museum shop.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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