The former Lenin Museum in Tampere, which opened in 1946 as a symbol of Finnish-Russian friendship, has rebranded amid the Ukraine war
A Finnish museum dedicated to the Russian Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin has reopened under a new name and with new exhibits in response to rapidly changing relations between two neighbouring countries after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The former Lenin Museum in Tampere, which closed in November, reopened this month under a new name, Nootti, which refers to the Finnish word for a diplomatic note.
When it first opened in 1946, after the Second World War, the institution was intended as a symbol of postwar friendship. The location was chosen because Tampere was where Lenin and Stalin met for the first time as young communist leaders. During the Cold War, it became a place for diplomacy and in 2016 the museum was revamped to focus on Soviet history instead of Lenin’s life.
But in light of recent events, and with relations between the two countries once again frozen, the museum said a dramatic update was needed and decided to create an entirely new museum. After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Finland rapidly became a member of NATO and the countries’ shared 830-mile (1,330km) border closed after Helsinki accused Moscow of a “hybrid operation” involving asylum seekers, which the Kremlin has denied.
Kalle Kallio, the director of the museum, said that in recent years the Lenin name had become “a burden”. “During the last three years it turned out that it was not very good brand any more. People did not understand the role of the museum and the name became a burden. So we decided to close the museum and build a totally new one and continue with the name Nootti,” he said.
The themes of the new museum include the collapse of the Russian empire in 1917 and Finnish independence, the civil wars on both sides of the border, the fate of the Soviet Finns during Stalin’s terror, the Winter War, the Finnish alliance with Hitler, the cold war, “Finlandisation”, the secret services, bilateral trade, cultural relations and tourism from the 1950s and the lead-up to Finland joining Nato in 2023.
Among the exhibits – which include pictures, text, videos and historical artefacts that tell the story of the two countries’ evolving relationship – is a bicycle that was used by an asylum seeker to cross the border in 2023.
The museum said it aimed to tell both Finnish and Russian stories but was not cooperating with the Russian state or Russian museums.
Whatever the state of relations between the two countries, Kallio believes the museum with its new name and focus will always have relevance.
“If we look at Finnish history and our key moments in history during the last 150 years, it’s impossible to understand them without understanding Russian history as well,” he said. “So our stories are really tied together.”
He added: “The relations between Finland and Russia are always going to be there. We don’t know what kind of relations they will be, but there will be relations and we are very certain that there will be new history coming all the time.”
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