140 years old Student House
From the 1840s onwards, university students gathered at the house of the city surgeon, Pihlflyckt, on Hallituskatu 3. The house is still standing. However, the idea of establishing a house of their own for university students was proposed frequently, as the Pihlflyckt house was both expensive and cramped.
During the reign of Alexander II, in a climate favourable to social reform, the politically active teachers of the university, J.V. Snellman, Fredrik Cygnaeus and C.G. Estlander could, in various contexts, propose building a house for university students. General ideals, culture, joint activities and temperance were possible motivations for the proposal. The house built for Lund’s Akademiska Föreningen in 1851 may also have inspired the construction project.
On 13 March 1858, about 300 members of the Student Union convened at a general meeting under the direction of Master of Arts Estlander, thereby forming “the Student Union”. At the meeting, it was decided to build a house which would be solely managed by the Student Union and would be a place where university students could meet and hold festive events. At the cusp of summer, the Student Union bought a plot located in the Vuohi (goat) city block from merchant Langé at a reasonably low cost; this is the current location of the National Archives. However, the plot was rocky, and thus some opposed the purchase.
The high cost of excavation works and the fact that the houses planned for the neighbouring plots would hem in the plot, making it seem less spacious, led the university students to propose, at their general meeting in 1865, that another plot be found. A suitable plot was located at the corner of Aleksanterinkatu and Itä-Heikinkatu streets. This area was gradually changing from a rural landscape into a busy commercial area. After a few years, the Senate agreed to exchange the Vuohi block for the government-owned II Soopeli block.
In September 1868, the Union submitted the drawings drafted by Axel Hampus Dalström to the city administrative court, from where they were conveyed all the way to St. Petersburg to be approved by Emperor Alexander II. Preparations for the construction works began in August 1868, but the logs required for the piling could be procured only in late winter.
The Student House was built partially with collected and donated funds, and the inauguration ceremony took place on 26 November 1870. The programme included Mendehlsson’s festive march, Maamme-laulu (the national anthem), sections of Haydn’s “On Creation”, a speech by chairman Otto Donner and poems by Topelius and Lönnrot. The evening’s ball lasted until four in the morning. The bill presented by restauranteur Kleineh shows that, in addition to the food, 463 bottles of beer, 25 bottles of cognac, 13 bottles of sherry and port, numerous bottles of wine and 75 jugs of punch (1 jug = 2.617 l) were consumed at the party. Grapes and cigars had been imported from St. Petersburg. The Student Union ended up with an additional bill of FIM 5 000 for the inauguration festivities, and thus every member of the Union had to pay an additional tax of FIM 15 for four semesters.
Cellars and the famous “orkus”, where the clubs of students from Häme and Vyborg met, were located in the basement of the Student House. Located on the first floor were a warm vestibule, several small hallways, the ballroom, billiards room and three meeting halls. On the second floor were the library premises of the Academic Reading Society, the singing hall (now the music hall), hallways and a balcony overlooking Esplanadi street.
In 1873, the motto “Spei suae patria dedit” – “Given to its young hopes by the fatherland” – was chiselled into the drop panels of the house. Next year, R. W. Ekman’s painting “Väinämöisen soitto” (Väinämöinen Plays) was hung in the house. Walter Runeberg donated his sculptures “Psyche ja Jupiterin kotka” (Psyche and Jupiter’s Eagle) and “Apollo ja Marsyas” (Apollo and Marsyas) to the Student Union. The university’s chancellor, Alexander Alexandrovitsh (later Alexander III), visited the house in 1876. The estate of burgesses met in the house in 1878 and Walter Runeberg’s frieze “Kleobis ja Biton” (Kleobis and Biton), based on Greek mythology, was installed in the same year. The final decorations of the facade, sculptor Robert Stigell’s statues “Ilmarinen” and “Väinämöinen” were mounted in the niches flanking the main entrance in 1888.
Emergency, the Old Student House is burning!
The Helsinki Fire Department received an alarm on 8 April 1978 at 1:07 a.m. - the Old Student House was in flames. Luckily, all the artworks were rescued from the Great Hall before its roof collapsed, some of them cut from their frames. The decision to repair the Old Student House was made immediately after the fire. The repairs and reconstruction work planned by architects Vilhelm Helander and Juha Leiviskä were completed at the end of 1979.
The Student House had to undergo slight repairs and modernization works soon after its completion. Water piping was installed in the house in 1879. In 1898, the ballroom was extended and a stage, dressing rooms, residential rooms and service spaces were constructed. Now the house had assumed its present appearance. The years of oppression and the growth of nationalistic sentiment were also evident at the Student House. Due to the February Manifesto of 1899, a temporary ban on dancing at the house was imposed.
In 1901, Akseli Gallen-Kallela painted a rugged fresco with vibrant colours for the music hall, “Kullervon sotaanlähtö” (Kullervo Goes to War). A few years later, the Student House was furnished with pieces designed by Count Louis Sparre and architect Walter Thomé: red-stained pine, dark oak and buffalo hide. Delicate-looking sofas and chairs upholstered with pale fabric, almost in the Gustavian style, served as a contrast. That was the style of choice in 1901.
The house was a place where university students could gather, meet and hold parties. The House’s restaurant featured a popular smorgasbord; the behaviour of the students who ate there caused comment even in Ylioppilaslehti, the student newspaper. Gradually, the number of university students grew so large that the construction of the New Student House became an issue; it was inaugurated in 1910, and since then Hampus Dalström’s Student House has been called the Old Student House.
The Student House has been repaired and altered in step with the times and to suit its users, but its basic appearance has remained unaltered. In 1929, Suomalainen kirjakauppa bookstore completed its sales premises, featuring beautiful glass domes and large storefront windows, next to the house. During the next decade, the walls of the café were decorated with caricatures of the “lynchpins of academia and the café.” In the 1960s, the cellars of the house were modified for restaurant use.
Longer-term tenants of the House have included Kansan Näyttämö (later renamed Helsingin kaupungin teatteri, or the Helsinki City Theatre), Ylioppilaskahvila Oy, located in the proximity of AKS, Suomalainen kirjakauppa bookstore, Perämies Oy and the Intiimiteatteri theatre company. The Helsinki University Choir, The Student Orchestra of the University of Helsinki, Akademiska Sångföreningen and Akademiska Damkören Lyran, all of which have achieved national and international renown, have practised in the music hall. Portraits of these corporations’ directors adorn the walls of the hall: Jean Sibelius, Heikki Klemetti, Selim Palmgren, Leevi Madetoja.
However, the idyll was shattered at 1.07 on 8 April 1978 when the Helsinki fire brigade was called to the Old Student House, which was on fire and smoking heavily. The artworks were rescued successfully – some by cutting them out of their frames – before the ballroom ceiling collapsed.
The charred timbers of the roof and smoke-blackened walls almost made the disheartened university students believe that the house would never be their meeting place again. A preliminary estimate of the damages came to about FIM 15 million. A unanimous decision on repairs was made immediately after the fire. The repairs and restoration works planned by the architects Vilhelm Helander and Juha Leiviskä were completed on a rapid schedule towards the end of 1979.
Today, the Old Student House is still a meeting place for university students and residents of Helsinki. Its restaurants and ballroom have become popular venues for events and festivities. The Old Student House lives life the way it always has – to the fullest.
Mr. Jari Eerola 25th October 2000