Photo: IleMK · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Myllykolu, F. E. Sillanpään syntymäkotimuseo

Myllykolu in Kierikkala, Hämeenkyrö, is the birthplace of the Nobel Prize-winning writer F. E. Sillanpää and tells of the life of a smallholder family in the late 19th century.

Opening hours unknownFree admission

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About the museum

Myllykolu is the birthplace of the Nobel Prize-winning writer Frans Emil Sillanpää (born 16 September 1888) in the village of Kierikkala in Hämeenkyrö, on the edge of the Myllyoja gorge. Sillanpää’s father acquired a smallholder’s plot, on which a traditional residential building was constructed, with a pirtti (main room), a pakari (storeroom) and a porstua (entrance hall) with a back room. The yard also includes a small cottage, a storehouse and a sauna by the stream. The house stood at the end of the bridge over the Myllyoja, which is why it came to be called Sillanpää. The name later became the family’s official surname, in place of the Koskinen farm name. The family lived in the house for about ten years.

The Hämeenkyrö Museum and Local Heritage Association bought the crofter’s cottage in 1958 in honour of the writer’s 70th birthday celebration, and it was opened as a museum in 1962. The museum presents the living conditions of a smallholder family in the late 19th century, as well as Sillanpää’s childhood chores, rural life and traditional building methods. In the Myllykolu area there is also a summer theatre, whose activity began in summer 1972.

Highlights

The birthplace of F. E. Sillanpää
Smallholder family life from the late 19th century
Original pirtti, pakari and porstua
Summer theatre on the grounds
Electronic e-museum guide to Sillanpää’s homes

Permanent exhibition

Myllykolun syntymäkotimuseo – The traditional smallholder residence presents Sillanpää’s childhood home and the everyday life of a crofter in the late 19th century.

Founded: 1962
Operated by: Hämeenkyrön kunta