Ehrensvärd Museum
The museum is located at the original central court of the Suomenlinna fortress in the Commanders House. The first occupant of the building was Augustin Ehrensvärd (1710-1772), the founder of the fortress Suomenlinna. The Ehrensvärd Museum exhibits paintings, furniture, weapons and ship models.
The Commander’s House is a good example of how housing and the defensive system were connected under the same roof at Suomenlinna. The building’s side wings functioned also as fortification bastions and it was possible to access the bastion terrepleins directly from the residential rooms. In case of emergency the windows in the dining room as well as in the sleeping alcove could be used as crenells from where the main entrance of the fortress, the Artillery Bay, could be defended. The building was used as the commander’s residence until 1855, when it lost its southern wing in the Crimean War.
In 1927 the Ehrensvärd Society made a motion in order to establish a museum in those rooms, which had been used as commander Ehrensvärd ‘s residence. The museum was opened in 1930.
