Itella is planning the relocation of the Post Museum from Helsinki to Tampere
Itella is planning to relocate the Post Museum, located in the Helsinki General Post Office, to Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere during 2014. Relocation negotiations are in progress with the museum office of the City of Tampere.
- Museum Centre Vapriikki is an excellent setting for the Post Museum's exhibition and event activities. As part of a museum center, we would better reach out to visitors interested in cultural services than we now do in the Helsinki Main Post Office where people mainly go to take care of their mailing business, says Petteri Takkula, Museum Director at Itella.
The mission of the Post Museum is to collect and preserve objects and material related to the history and development of the post in Finland for future generations and exhibit them to the public. The material of the Post Museum is a cross-section of Finland's history from the 17th century to this day. The material covers all postal activities from postal peasants delivering mail on foot in the 17th century to today's digital mail communication and logistics. In addition to the main exhibition, the exhibition activities of the Museum include different themed exhibitions. The Post Museum also provides services for researchers and arranges guided museum tours for visitors.
- We are very happy with the Post Museum's relocation plans to Vapriikki which is already home to four specialized museums: the Shoe Museum, the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Doll Museum and the Tampere Museum of Natural History. The themes of other exhibitions in Vapriikki range from the history of Tampere to major international exhibitions. The Post Museum would essentially strengthen the offering of our museum center and would be very suitable as one of the specialized museums in Vapriikki. Currently, the Museum Centre has about 75,000-100,000 visitors per year, says Toimi Jaatinen, Production Director of cultural and recreational services in the City of Tampere.
Established in 1926, the Post Museum is one of the oldest specialized museums in Finland. It has operated in the Helsinki General Post Office since 1995. In addition to Verla Mill Museum, the Post Museum is the last professionally managed museum in direct ownership of a corporation.
Vapriikki, opened in 1996, is a museum center that comprises 10,000 square metres and is located in a former workshop of Tampella by the shore of the Tammerkoski rapids.
For more press information:
Itella MediaDesk, tel. +358 20 452 3366
Petteri Takkula, Director, Post Museum, Itella Corporation, phone +358 40 7360361, email: firstname.lastname@itella.com
Toimi Jaatinen, Production Director, City of Tampere, phone +358 50 5502172, email: firstname.lastname@tampere.fi
