Museum

The main theme at the Degerby Igor Museum is the lease period of Porkkala 1944-1956, which was a consequence of the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The lease period of Porkkala was a unique and unbelievable epoch in the politic history of Finland. It was also a severe threat to the Finnish independence. Only now doors are opening and new information is coming to the surface and the interest in this period increases

Have you heard about the Porkkala tunnel?

Were there any Soviet citizens left behind after 1956?

Why was Porkkala crowded with snakes after 1956?

And who was Igor?

We do not have the answers to all the questions we are asked, but we do know now why the Soviets painted houses in blue and today we know much more about the people living in the base, called Porkkala-Udd . The lease period is always our main theme, new stories, pictures and facts from the naval base 1944-1956 keep reaching us. Our guides will be happy to tell you more!

Read more under the topics to the left.

You can also find information about our museum in the Cold War Portal of the Berlin Center for Cold War Studies.

The exhibitions for the season 2025 give you a lot of new answers about this outstanding period in the history of Finland. The main themes:

Västankvarn 1918 - a guided tour

Jevdokia and her family lived in the Porkkala base and here were Jevdokia´s twins Larissa and Svetlana born. But in Svetlanas passport is her place of birth registered as Finland - in Larissa´s passport is her place of birth Leningrad.

The Lotta's hard work

The Lotta Svärd organization for voluntary women during the war had its local section in Degerby. The Lotta's remember the long, cold winters when lots of woolen clothes were needed. They spent several hours in the observation towers and alarmed when an unknown war plane was approaching. In 1944 Soviet abolishe both the Lotta organization and the Veterans´ organizations. However this did not prevent Finland from taking care of her wounded soldiers and they were really taken care of!