Military history

The Fighter's House (1988) was built as a tribute to the veterans of our wars. The buildings, exhibitions and artifacts tell the story of our wars and the sacrificial work and struggle that wartime people had to make to preserve our independence.

The Fighter's House features war history exhibitions indoors and outdoors:
The From War to Peace exhibition tells the story of the wars of 1939–45, the evacuation journey and the post-war period through objects, maps, images and films. The exhibition features interesting artifacts such as weapon collections, wartime equipment and service clothing, and trench warfare clean-up work.

In the outdoor area, you can visit the dugout, examine the cannons, remember those who remained behind the border during the war with the help of maps, or rest on the peace stones that have been erected to signal peace to the whole world.

The new cannon shelter built next to the Fighter's House, opened in 2012, houses 12 cannons that took part in the Battle of Ilomantsi, some of which are war spoils.

Exhibition tickets are available from the House. The exhibition tour includes a short film shown downstairs. Fighter's House also organizes military history tours of old battle sites around Hattuvaara.

The Finnish Woman – Lotta Svärd exhibition was moved back to its original location in the downstairs display case in May 2016. The temporary exhibition, which was in the display case and told about the achievements of the world-famous soldier Lauri Törn, was moved to the lobby and anteroom.

During the wars, women served in, among other things, supply, medical, communications and air surveillance duties. The Finnish women's voluntary Lotta Swärd national defense organization included over 200,000 Lottas and over 20,000 Little Lottas. They stood alongside men in a common cause to defend the country. The exhibition's wall panel provides comprehensive additional information about the Lottas' activities during our wars.

Hattuvaara also hosts visiting exhibitions related to military history. Since 2012, the Fighter's House has hosted a Lauri Törni exhibition, which was created in collaboration with the Military History Society of the Central Criminal Police, and which expands on the Lauri Törni biography exhibition on display at the Makkola Museum.

Lauri Törni on Wikipedia.

When you click on the map below with your mouse, it will open in a large size in a new tab. You can zoom in and out of the map from a specific point by clicking on the map. The 40km x 30km area of the map shows, among other things, the locations of the Ilomantsi defensive battles in the vicinity of Lake Ilajajärvi.

Knight of the Mannerheim Cross No. 30 Hans Olof von Essen in Hattuvaara 1941. Von Essen received the Mannerheim Cross after the events in Hattuva, when the Rv.Pr and URR moved to Tolvajärvi and beyond