Situated between Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, Riihimäki is a charming town of 30,000 inhabitants, the development of which has been linked for decades to its railway, glass manufacturing and military garrison. The town is accessible from anywhere in Southern Finland, so you can easily organise a holiday in Riihimäki flying in and out of Helsinki or enjoy a day trip there if already in the region. Riihimäki still has many wooden houses originally built for railway workers, and one of the most beautiful areas of the city is directly beside the travel centre. A few miles away, on the other side of town, you can explore the history of glass-making at the Finnish Glass Museum.
Wandering around Riihimäki’s numerous museums is a fun and inexpensive way of exploring the town. If you start your town break at Riihimäki station, there are a few other places worth visiting before you head for the glass museum. Directly next to the station, in the beautiful Railway Park area, is the Historical Museum of Riihimäki, where you can discover local history from the Stone Age to the present. The museum is in a building known as the Track Engineer's House, which is itself of cultural and historical value.
Take a moment to wander around the picturesque wooden houses of Railway Park and explore the lives of train drivers and the upper classes in the Historical Museum of Riihimäki. In this area, you will also see the Art Nouveau Rest Room (Lepohuone) and the Music Centre, which once operated as a school for the children of railway workers. The lightly coloured wooden Riihimäki Central Church awaits visitors at the edge of the park. From here, you can easily reach the modern business centre, which includes the Glassblower statue that has become something of a symbol of Riihimäki.
Next, it is time to go and admire the art treasures of Riihimäki Art Museum, established in 1995. The art museum's collections include paintings, sculptures and graphics by many of Finland's best-known artists, such as Helene Schjerfbeck, Ellen Thesleff and Wäinö Aaltonen. The temporary exhibitions display the best items from the museum's own collections and the latest trends in contemporary Finnish art. The collections include porcelain objects from famous European manufacturers, as well as Chinese porcelain, some of which dates back to the Ming Dynasty.
After admiring these art treasures, your journey through Riihimäki continues on the city's west side, where the Finnish Glass Museum and The Hunting Museum of Finland are located. The permanent exhibition at the Hunting Museum allows you to explore a thousand years of Finnish hunting history, including both the fur trade and seal hunting. The various hunting firearms and trophies brought from around the world form a section of their own. The Hunting Museum is an interesting place even for those who prefer to leave creatures in peace, as it includes information about such matters as bear myths and magical objects supposed to bring luck to hunters.
The crown on your tour of Riihimäki's diverse museums will certainly be a visit to the Finnish Glass Museum, which is housed in a former glass factory and in the Riihimäki glass company’s crystal grinding workshop. The permanent exhibition on the museum’s ground floor provides information about the different stages in the manufacture of glass, as well as the methods used. The upper floor houses the designer glass collections and the history of Finnish glass design, on which Riihimäki has left an indelible mark.
