Old student house
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The Old Student House ( Vanha ylioppilastalo in Finnish ) is a building in Helsinki , Finland . There are restaurants and a ballroom in the house.
location
The building is located in the center of Helsinki at Mannerheimintie 3 at the confluence with Aleksanterinkatu .
Architecture and history
The students of the University of Helsinki met in the 1840s in the house of the city doctor Pihlflyckt at the address Hallituskatu 3. In 1858 the Helsinki Student Union was founded . In the long run, the building proved unsuitable as a meeting place for students. The idea of building your own student house was supported by several politically active university professors, Johan Vilhelm Snellman , Fredrik Cygnaeus and Carl Gustaf Estlander . In September 1868, the student union submitted plans for the construction of a student house, which were approved by the Russian Tsar Alexander II . Preparations for the construction work began in August 1868. Donations were collected to finance the construction. The architect was Axel Hampus Dalström .
The neo-renaissance building was opened on November 26th, 1870. The opening ceremony was extremely lavish and cost 5000 Finnmarks . The students had to pay off the costs over four semesters. The building served as a meeting place for students and a place for celebrations.
The identification of a Finnish identity played an important role in the design of the house. Many well-known Finnish artists were involved in the design of the building. The interiors are lavishly decorated and are often used as a venue. Club rooms, meeting rooms, a Baalsaal and a billiard room were set up in the house. A library and a music hall were built on the upper floor. There is a balcony at the front.
In 1873 the Latin motto Spei suae patria dedit was added to the facade of the building. In 1874 the painting Väinämöisen soitto by the painter Robert Wilhelm Ekman was hung in the house. The sculptor Walter Runeberg donated his works Psyche ja Jupiterin kotka and Apollo ja Marsyas to the student union.
The acting as Chancellor of the university Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , later as Alexander III. Russian tsar, visited the student house in 1876. The sculpture Kleobis ja Biton by Walter Runeberg was installed in 1878. In 1888 the sculptures Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen by Robert Stigell were placed on the sides of the main entrance.
In 1901 the painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela created a fresco with scenes from the Finnish national epic Kalevala .
With the growing number of students, however, the student house proved to be too small, so that in 1910 a new student house was built. The name Altes Studentenhaus has been in use since then. It was regularly renovated and adapted to new uses, but retained its appearance. In the 1960s, parts of the building were converted for gastronomic use.
On April 8, 198 a big fire broke out in the house. The works of art in the building were saved before the ballroom collapsed, with some works having to be cut from their frames. The damage to the building was considerable and was estimated at 15 million Finnmarks. The decision to rebuild was made shortly after the fire. The reconstruction was led by the architects Vilhem Helander and Juha Leiviskä and completed at the end of 1979.
It also serves today as a meeting place for students and is used for gastronomic purposes.
literature
- Helsinki, Travel House Media Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-8342-1154-5 , page 70.
Web links
Coordinates: 60 ° 10 ′ 8.4 ″ N , 24 ° 56 ′ 26.5 ″ E