Myllysaari Museum

The name Myllysaari (“Mill Island”) dates back to the Middle Ages, when the area was home to as many as 16 grain mills. Over 150 years ago, the first paper mill was established at this strategic junction of waterways. From a mill village, Valkeakoski emerged as one of Finland’s most well-known paper industry towns. Over the years, the paper mill site has also housed a paper conversion plant, a machine workshop, and a vocational school workshop for the forest industry. Today, the historic red-brick factory building, located in the heart of the city by a picturesque canal, is home to two museums and serves as a venue for a variety of cultural events.

The museum features a permanent exhibition that tells the story of the Valkeakoski and Sääksmäki areas, taking visitors on a journey from prehistoric times to the present day. The people of the past are brought to life, and the region’s strong industrial heritage plays a key role in the exhibition. The museum also hosts annually rotating exhibitions.

Visitors to Myllysaari can also explore the Finnish Football Museum (Suomen Jalkapallomuseo).

One of the most unique items in the Myllysaari Museum is an authentic Venetian gondola, purchased by the legendary paper mill director Juuso Walden. The gondola is housed in a hall that now serves as a private event and banquet venue.

The museum shop offers locally produced items and souvenirs.

Just a few hundred meters away, across the canal, lies the Kauppilanmäki Open-Air Museum, open during the summer season. At Kauppilanmäki, visitors can explore the lives and homes of factory workers from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, including traditional workers’ residences, a smoke sauna, and a workers’ hall.

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ERIH Member

Myllysaaren museo
Kanavanranta 3
37600 Valkeakoski

Highlights

New and old paper factory on the riverside

History

As its name suggests, Myllysaari (“Mill Island”) was originally a small island flanked by rushing rapids—Vähäkoski to the north and the larger Walkiakoski to the south. As early as the Middle Ages, grain mills stood along these riverbanks, and Valkeakoski became known as a mill village where people from afar would bring grain to be ground.

In 1869, the smaller of the two rapids, Vähäkoski—located at the confluence of Lakes Vanajavesi and Mallasvesi—was harnessed into a canal. Just three years later, a paper mill and groundwood mill began operations at the site. The same rapids that had powered grain mills now powered the machinery of the factory. Over time, the paper mill expanded and took over the entire land area of Myllysaari. The last grain mill was dismantled in 1907.

However, Myllysaari proved too small for the growing needs of the paper mill, which soon expanded to the adjacent Tervasaari area. The factory, which still operates today, manufactures release liners (backing paper for labels).

In 1931, United Paper Mills Ltd. (Yhtyneet Paperitehtaat Oy), the company running the Myllysaari paper mill, founded its first subsidiary, Paperituote Oy, a paper conversion plant. It started operations in the facilities at Myllysaari. Some of its key products included paper sacks and corrugated cardboard boxes.

A partial fire at the Myllysaari factory in 1938 marked the end of paper production on the island. While Paperituote was relocated to new premises, the surviving buildings at Myllysaari found new purposes. During World War II, the repair shop in Tervasaari, previously involved in war materiel production, evolved into a full-fledged company. Konepaja Jylhävaara Oy began operations in Myllysaari in 1940, expanding into manufacturing machines and parts for the paper industry, as well as bolts and nuts.

In 1970, Jylhävaara moved to larger facilities, and the Myllysaari site housed the Lotila Vocational School’s student workshop until 1996. Myllysaari opened as a museum in 1997.

Next to the museum stands a smaller red-brick building completed in 1906. Over the years, it has served various purposes, including a repair shop, carpenter’s workshop, white paper department, a gathering space for factory retirees, and a museum (1981–2009). Today, it houses Valkeakoski’s municipal youth services.