Photo: Khaosaming · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Tampereen siirtolapuutarhamuseo

The museum in three 1920s cottages in the Niihama group allotment garden presents the history and everyday life of allotment gardens.

Opening hours unknown

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About the museum

The Tampere Allotment Garden Museum operates in the Niihama group garden on the shore of Lake Näsijärvi. The garden’s predecessor, the Hatanpää allotment garden, was founded in Tampere in 1916 and is Finland’s oldest allotment community still in operation. The area was moved from Hatanpää to Niihama in 1977.

When the association turned 50, a small museum was set up in the original museum cottage, which was donated by Frans Palmu. When the museum moved to Niihama it expanded to a complex of three cottages. The Nordfors cottage has been preserved furnished and tells of summer life; the Palmu cottage presents the association’s activities and culture; and the Kotiranta cottage shows cultivation and sport. An exhibition on the walls follows the cycle of the year, from early-spring soil preparation to the harvest.

In the centre of the museum is a flower bed with heritage plants. The museum is run by volunteers, and the museum committee is happy to tell visitors about the area; a guide manuscript has been prepared for the museum. The cottages were renovated through volunteer work (talkoot).

Highlights

Three allotment cottages from the 1920s
Furnished Nordfors cottage
Old tools and early interior style
Flower bed with heritage plants
Wall exhibition following the seasons

Permanent exhibition

Siirtolapuutarhamuseon mökit – The three museum cottages present the history of allotment gardening, the cottages’ original furnishings, tools, and the association’s activities, cultivation and sport.