Helsinki experienced massive growth after it became Finland’s capital in 1812. As the new economic and cultural center, its population exploded, architecture grew quickly, and technology flourished. But what did it look like? Let’s take a stroll through 19th century Helsinki, courtesy of the Helsinki City Museum’s vast database of photos from the late 1800s.
Market Square and Market Hall, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Saxelin Carl Otto
Kiosk in Esplanadi, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Helsinki’s first public transportation, the omnibus, 1889. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
A pair of cyclists, circa 1880. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Unveiling the memorial of J.L. Runeberg, Finland’s national poet, in Esplanade Park, 1885. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Hjertzell Fritz
Fish market at the Market Square, 1885. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Rowing in Kaivopuisto, circa 1870. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Group photo at a school for Swedish-speaking girls, 1886. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Nyblin Daniel
Sitting outdoors, 1888. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Rosenbröijer A. E.
Studio photo of the Gebhard family at the coffee table, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
A diver at the old town waterworks construction site, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Family ski day, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Members of the amateur photography club, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Saxelin Carl Otto
G.W. Sohlberg workers on the roof of the factory, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
A walk by the sea on Seurasaari, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Studio photo of a woman dressed as a sailor, 1890. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Vappu celebration at Kaisaniemi, 1892. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Wasastjerna Nils
Polytechnic Institute (later Helsinki University of Technology) Mechanical Engineering students playing cards, 1893. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Market Square, 1895. Photo: Helsinki City Museum / Saxelin Carl Otto
Father and son sitting on a bench in Kaivopuisto, 1897. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Father and daughter sitting in Kaivopuisto, 1897. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Russian ice cream salesman in front of Ateneum, 1898. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
A much less crowded Aleksanterinkatu, 1899. Photo: Helsinki City Museum
Call me weird but it’s low key fascinating how clean the town was
Makes you wonder if they scrubbed the streets for the photographer.