Opening times
- Monday
- Suljettu
- Tuesday
- 10 — 16
- Wednesday
- 10 — 16
- Thursday
- 10 — 16
- Friday
- 10 — 16
- Saturday
- 10 — 16
- Sunday
- 10 — 16
Tickets
Reduced tickets* €9
Children aged 7–17 €7
Family ticket (2 adults and 1–4 children) €30
Contact
Services
Exhibitions
Exhibitions at the Prison
The Prison’s permanent exhibition
The Prison’s permanent exhibition showcases facilities, cells and objects that tell a bleak tale of everyday prison life. One of..
Stars for prisoners
Tattooed stars were symbols for prisoners. At first, only prisoners and sailors were tattooed. Tattoos were like prisons for outsiders:..
Installations
The museum’s light and audio installations bring The Prison to life, with holographic characters recounting prisoners’ stories and various soundscapes..
Accessibility
The Prison – formerly the county prison of Hämeenlinna and currently serving as a museum – is located in the oldest prison cell building in Finland, dating back to 1871. Its cells are small, and both the doorways and corridors are narrow. All the exhibition rooms and cell doors have thresholds.
History
Finland’s first cell prison, the previous Hämeenlinna county prison, was completed in 1871, and on 2 May 2019, the National Museum of Finland opened it to the public. At the same time, the National Museum begun a reform of the prison exhibition and the visitor experience to bring up the fundamental questions of humanity and many kinds of feelings. The county prison was used as a prison until 1993. The county prison was opened as a museum managed by the city of Hämeenlinna in 1997. The National Museum of Finland opened the site under the name The Prison.
Prison history of the Castle peninsula
The history of Finnish prisons starts with the fortresses of the Swedish Crown, ‘thief cellars’ in cities and temporary shelters in the countryside. The 17th century saw the creation of county administration and, through it, the county prison system that was based on the earlier cells of the Crown. At that time, the crown cell located in the medieval Häme Castle was also turned into a crown prison, i.e. county prison. The county prison system laid the foundation for the later prison service.
