Deserted Finland

The Concept Of Municipal Homes Explained

In several posts from the summer of 2022 and even from before that, I’ve mentioned the concept municipal home. It comes from the history. Even before the Finnish welfare state, there were houses, where in general everybody, who couldn’t live on their own or with relatives were placed: the elderly, the disabled and the mentally ill.

In 1920 it became mandatory for every municipality to have a municipal home. That was also, when the conditions improved drastically. If it had been common until this for all the patients to live in large rooms regardless of their condition, the municipal homes now started building own wards for the sick and mentally ill.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, when the welfare state was rapidly built, the municipal homes started losing many of their functions. The central hospital network was built, the chronically mentally ill and the mentally handicapped were moved to a network of mental asylums. The latter got their own institutions in their 1960’s. What was left were the elderly, so gradually most of the municipal homes became nursing homes such as the one featured in the last 10 posts. There are exceptions such as this one, which became a facility for alcoholics and this one, which was enlarged to become a mental asylum, but in general it was nursing for old people. Every municipality had their own population of them and they needed a place to stay in near their homes for their last years.

But the nursing home I just featured did both. The old main building of the municipal home was demolished to make way for a new wing for the elderly. The newer building became a part of that complex. But there was a third building on the lot of the municipal home from the same era as the 1950’s building. I’m not sure what happened in between, but in the early 2020’s it was a small closed psychiatric ward for teenagers.

Plans to close it and concentrate all psychiatry in the region to the central hospital in regional capital existed for years. They finally came true in 2021 or 2022 when the patients moved to the big city.

This probably is one of the wards built in the 1950’s.

Any other activities than playing darts?

The back. Although clearly from the same era, the architecture of this building is different and more detailed.

Covid cancelled all visits. After restrictions were lifted, no patients were left.

Although the unit moved in 2021 or 2022, it was permanently closed a few years later.

There was a lounge in the garden.

The main entrance was quite exaggerative. I don’t think the design is original.

Two more doors behind, but no entries.

The building stands on its own lot and wasn’t for sale with the municipal home. I’m not sure who owns it, but I believe, that it won’t be demolished with the old nursing home. At least I hope so. You can’t demolish things until I’ve gained entry.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part X

The dressing room was large, but featured lots of lockers.

It was important to wash hands, it seems.

What is a baby doll doing in the sink of a nursing home?

“It’s nice to be a pig”. Well, we all have opinions.

A toilet.

I believe that this has been the common kitchen of the so called apartments.

And later it has probably been a break room for some shift workers.

The kitchen cupboards look like they are originals from the 1950’s.

A vintage TV and a violet cloak. This stuff gets even weirder.

More vintage TV’:’s.

I thought it was dangerous to place objects on stoves.

The other stairway of the building.

Another room with a badly beaten Christmas tree.

Attic access.

There probably was nothing interesting there, because I am going back down. This is the main stairway facing the courtyard.

The end of the corridor.

And finally outside.

The back of the building. The complex has been for sale for years, but nothing has come out of it. It has also been on the list of buildings to be demolished by the municipality, but nothing has come out of that either. It was first listed to be demolished in 2024-25, but the current date is 2028.

I am not holding my breath for something to happen any time soon..

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part IX

The staff apartment corridor. And yeah, those really do look like apartment doors.

For some reason their last use has had something to do with the wards in the newer wings of the house.

The story goes on in here.

So a storage room with seasonal decorations it is.

A coat of arms. Always when I see these in abandoned buildings, my inner cleptomaniac takes over. I still have resisted the urge, though.

A Finnish silent film from 1920 on VHS. A true classic, it seems.

Basically each apartment has been just one room.

But they seem to have been equipped with running water.

The bathrooms seem to have been shared, though.

Old newspapers and magazines.

Another room with an awful plastic carpet.

The end of the corridor is near. A red carpet has been spread to the goers to the balcony.

Perfumes forbidden.

The staff dressing room.

I wonder, what that old sewing machine is doing here.

Maybe the final post from this location will shed some light to that.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part VII

After the lobby I entered what seems to be the administration area instead of the staff apartments.

This room looks like it has last been a meeting room.

That standard has the logo of the Finnish war invalid association. This place has probably been the final home of several of their members.

More offices.

That’s a messy desk.

Old photos and documents were everywhere. The paper to the right contains information about carpet fabrics.

This one is from a funeral service.

Suddenly a grey brick wall appeared. That must be a wallpaper.

At least they’re ventilating.

This corner room is probably facing the front yard. The newer wing is to the right.

Collective labor agreements.

A sturdy looking safe.

Manufactured in Tampere.

The staff’s break room.

The balcony facing the renovated café.

Interesting chairs.

Poor pandas.

Now I am back at this door. And time to see how the staff lived back in the days.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part VI

The next place to explore was the kitchen. The funny thing was, that it was located pretty far away from what I believe was the dining room, which was on the opposide site of the building.

The kitchen was facing the front yard and the large cow shed. Back when the place was built, municipal homes were large collective farms, because work was considered curing.

The kitchen entrance was closest to the highway. The beautifully renovated café is again visible through the windows.

A small office room.

The last coffee was served with cakes, it seems. They didn’t care to do the dishes.

The kitchen wasn’t very large, but neither was the nursing home.

At least some machinery has been removed.

I don’t think this has been the place to look for that.

There’s a cold room up front.

Toilets and closets.

A note asking to lock the door. An inhabitant had escaped through this entrance.

A very random collection of keys, it seems.

And there was more.

I believe this photo is from the main stairway. That means we’re heading upstairs.

The text says, that the bar can be found here. I don’t think so.

Upstairs in the lobby. Let’s see, what that sign says.

“Staff apartments.” I don’t think any staff have lived here in ages, but let’s go have a look.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part V

And so I’ve reached the corridor between the 1954 built part and the 1980 built part. The old part is up front.

The corridor led straight into a small lobby.

So we’re starting with showers? Interesting.

“Don’t leave useless stuff on the shelf”, says the cat.

The room to the other direction looked a bit like a storage. I guess they have all been ordinary patient rooms before the corridor was built.

The 1950’s part was rather small. There had been a bigger, wooden building from the 1930’s, but it had been demolished when the newer wings were built.

The rooms were much smaller than the ones on the newer side.

There were beds and other old furniture left here, too.

Heading towards the other end.

I’m not sure, if too many patients have been in this area of the building in the last years of operation.

But there was a lot more art.

The floors are from the same era as in the newer building.

This room looked bigger, but it again looked like a storage. The beds are extremely old, and there’s even something which looks like an overhead projector in the corner.

Decay has started.

The clock is far from the latest model.

It was indeed an overhead projector.

This ios probably on the Southern side of the building, as the paint has come off so heavily.

Another messy room with big and old cupboards.

The main stairway with the usual greetings.

But we’re not going there just yet.

Not until we’ve taken a look behind this door.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part IV

Now moving on to Annintupa. Obviously this ward was for women.

This ward was by far the largest so far.

The purpose of this room was a bit unclear.

A closer look at the paintings.

I think these are oats.

The first one of the patient rooms. It was as if the patient just left yesterday.

The second one. Just the bed was missing.

I’ve removed the surname of the inhabitant, but her first name has been Anni.

The toilets.

The corridor went on and on.

A nice mirror image!

The patient rooms were mirror images of eachother. The only difference was the bathroom, which was either left or right from the entrance.

In this room there were both an ordinary and a hospital bed.

The artificial flowers seem to have been a standard equipment in every room.

The room doors were wider than the standard.

A painting with an evening prayer.

More standard patient rooms.

I’m not really sure if I consider these inspiring surroundings.

Actually i would find this place rather depressing, I believe I wouldn’t like to live in one like this.

One more to go after this one.

And the final patient room.

Instructions on the proper way of washing hands.

The room at the end of the corridor was again a random mess of furniture and moving aids.

A newspaper from 2016. I used to work there back then, but didn’t find an article written by myself this time.

Not the typical type of eggs.

The final inhabitant left their clothers behind.

The newer part of the complex has now been explored. Time to move on to the 1950’s part.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part III

The first thing in this section of the building was a lobby like space.

Next was a small kitchen. I wonder, whether it was for staff or patients.

Just guessing. But I wonder, could this have been the main dining room of the facility. It was by far the largest open space so far.

There was a counter leading to the small kitchen, so maybe my guess was right.

But in addition to dining, this has also probably been the main assembly area of the place.

There was even a small fireplace, which was surely popular with the residents during winters.

Psalm books. This is indeed a very religious area, so no wonder they had a lot of them.

A lot of them have ended up in the fireplace along with some post cards.

Access to the back yard.

And what do we have here?

Looks like the sauna department.

A look back from the door of the sauna.

The dressing room of the sauna.

I guess you can never be too old for these.

The sauna itself was spacious. You could even bathe in a wheelchair.

Old soap and shampoo bottles of the inhabitants. Intriguingly the name on the bottle to the right is the same as on the programme of the memorial service found earlier.

That note has probably been attached to the door if an inhabitant has been bathing.

The emergency exit for the sauna.

The name of this ward indicates, that patients needing a lot of care were housed here. I think, that I’ve explored it by accident already, as there are only a few photos from here.

The national broadcasting company has had a campaign promoting improvements in nursing homes. This is an ad of the campaign.

Despite being built in the 1970’s or 1980’s, this wing of the building contained wall decorations similar to 1950’s and 1960’s public buildings in Finland.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part II

“Welcome to Paavo’s cabin”, the sign says. This has probably been a ward for men.

I wonder why they have left all these behind. They’re rather expensive.

Paavo’s cabin was a full scale mess.

Audiobooks from a time before audiobooks were cool.

Old furniture.

An interesting installation. I have no idea what this has been. A flower pot?

Another dark corridor and more equipment for moving.

A vintage calculator.

Probably a former patient room with a balcony.

And another one. It’s funny how the patient rooms are almost empty and the public spaces and staff premises are a complete mess.

Pairless mittens.

Christmas decorations, once again.

A bed was left in this room.

A different model of bed in another room.

Laundry was done on Mondays and Fridays.

Another patient room. This time a shelf has been left above the bed.

I Prefer This Over Coffee Part I

The small one day road trip with my friends continued. They told me about a new café in a beautifully renovated old mansion, which they wanted to visit. I agreed. But only after reaching its yard I realized, that it would have been our next location anyway.

The mansion in question was an old farm house, an original part of the nursing home abandoned in 2016, which I had tried to enter the previous year. The nursing home was still for sale, but the old building, which had been idle for years had been bought by the owner of the café and beautifully renovated.

We reached the place just before closing time and were no longer served coffee. But the owner gave us a tour of the place and told us about the history. I told her about my visit to the area back in 2015 when the place was still in use and about my interest to explore the premises of the old nursing home.

“So why don’t you go and have a look. I don’t think they mind anymore”, the owner of the café said.

Again I had managed to secure my back thanks to the neighbors. It was time to go have a look.

Things looked exactly as they did back in 2022.

It still looked almost as if nobody had been here.

But it would soon turn out, that wasn’t true.

The colors of the marquis were pretty faded. No wonder. It had been in that position for years.

Some tags had appeared.

The newer sections of the building.

A waste of paint.

And a great success: an open door.

“Use the other door, the doorbell isn’t working”, the sign says. The reflection of the café can be seen in the window.

I decided to disregard the sign. I went in here to a room full of wheelchairs and rollators.

Immediately to my right was a corridor to the older part of the building. And now I did something, which is very unusual for me. I usually always explore the old parts first, because I find them more interesting. This time I ignored in and went for the newer section first.