Finland says goodbye to Lenin Museum 

A museum in Finland dedicated to the famous Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin, is set for a makeover.

Tampere, in the heart of Finland’s Lakeland, is home to at least two noteworthy museums, the Moomins and Lenin.

The Lenin Museum was opened in 1946 but is now set to close its doors at the end of this year to make way for a transformative rebranding.

The museum, the first to be dedicated to Vladimir Lenin outside the former Soviet Union, will see its last visitors in December 2024.

The museum is located in the Tampere Workers’ Hall, the historic site where Lenin and Joseph Stalin met for the first time in 1905, while Lenin was in exile in Finland.

A new vision

The transition will introduce a new theme and name for the museum, aiming to reflect the nuanced history of Finnish-Soviet relations.

The museum’s director, Kalle Kallio, emphasised the shift, stating, ‘History did not end due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and we don’t want to remain prisoners of the past.’

This new idea has led to the adoption of a new name, Nootti, which in Finnish means a diplomatic correspondence between two countries.

Finnish-Russian relations

The upcoming Nootti Museum is inspired by the 1961 ‘Note Crisis,’ a pivotal moment in Finnish-Soviet history. ‘In order to understand Finnish history, one must also understand our eastern neighbour.

‘This is why our museum will examine the collective history between Finland and Russia,’ Kallio explained to Yle News.

The revamped museum, Nootti, plans to open its doors in February 2025, offering insights into the evolving dynamics between the two nations. By rebranding the museum aims to shed its former identity and adopt a title that better captures the essence of Finnish-Russian interactions through history.

This change signifies a move towards a broader interpretation of the region’s past, focusing on diplomatic exchanges that shaped both nations.