Agricultural and household history
The Suomusjärvi Local History Museum operates in the parish granary built in 1861. The museum mainly displays handicraft, agricultural and household objects from the 1800s and early 1900s.
There are also church items and findings from the Stone Age as well as domestic tobacco and austerity-era shoes. The museum also houses a perpetual motion machine created by a local inventor Hemming Pohjola in the 1930s.
The granary was owned by the parish when the municipality of Suomusjärvi decided to buy it. The building’s grain bins were dismantled, and the museum was opened in 1974.
Suomusjärvi Local History Museum
Karjalohjantie 161-2, 25410 Suomusjärvi
Suomusjärvi Local History Museum on the map
Opening hours:
22.6.–4.8.2024 Sat-Sun 11-14
On Provincial Museum Day Sun 25.8. 11-14
Free entrance.
Accessibility:
The museum has stairs, thresholds and narrow doorways, which can be difficult for people with reduced mobility. Assistance dogs are welcome in our museums.
More information:
Anna Väänänen
p. (02) 778 4883
anna.vaananen@salo.fi
The Story of The Perpetual Motion Machine
Suomusjärvi society’s secretary Säde Lassila tells about the perpetual motion machine in the museum.
The Suomusjärvi Local History Museum has more than 800 items from local history on display. The perpetual motion machine designed by a local baker, Hemming Fredrik Pohjola (06.04.1864–24.09.1945), is one of the most special and rare objects in the museum.
Hemming Pohjola was fascinated by the idea of a device that would run forever without an energy source. He developed his own device for decades, until his death, in his bakery located in the Ahtiala village in Suomusjärvi.
A local tale has been told about how Pohjola saw a new parts for his machine in his dreams. In the morning, based on his dream, he would make a model of the part from the bun dough and bake it in the oven. The model was then taken to carpenter Kalle Saxelin to be carved from wood. It is also told that the model piece was often partially eaten on the way to the carpenter’s workshop. Pohjola’s perpetual motion machine is made of wood, iron wire, strollers and weights. The principle of the device was that the movement was transferred from one wheel to another. According to legend, the device has been working for a few days.
Text: Säde Lassila
Photo: Auli Nuuros
