Veteli Local Heritage Museum
Torpantie 181 Veteli
Ilmari Wirkkala served in the 1930s as the executive manager of a graveyard association, Hautausmaiden ystävät ry, in Helsinki. He got to know Finnish parishes, churches and graveyards very well. Together with writer Maila Talvio, he worked hard for the maintenance of Finnish graveyards.
In Veteli, the municipality neighbouring Kaustinen, Ilmari designed a granite monument for the soldiers from Veteli fallen in 1918. In 1932, the multi-talented Ilmari began to work as an architect and designed a local heritage museum in the municipality, one that followed the layout of the second church in Veteli.
In designing the museum building, he wanted to follow old building traditions as much as possible. He designed several buildings and small-scale structures for parishes, such as graveyard chapels, mortuaries and gates. His largest design job was the graveyard and chapel of Lappee in Lappeenranta.
Stories
During his life, Ilmari Wirkkala often drifted into areas for which he had no formal qualification. However, he was bold, open-minded and confident about his skills. This gave him the courage to take on the designing of the Veteli local heritage museum.
The courtyard of the museum became a special place for the artist; he wrote and directed a historical parade and a “crown wedding” with all its ceremonies to be performed here. Once, when the regular actor was suffering from exhaustion, Ilmari even had to play the role of a local court judge. Just upriver from the local heritage museum is Nivasaari island, where Ilmari began his public performances at the age of 16 by reciting a poem in a large summer festival of youth associations in 1906.
Photos
Veteli Local Heritage Museum
