World Heritage Site Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

UPM Verla Mill Museum

The old board mill by the Verla rapids is a unique attraction. The mill has been the heart of the village since the 1870s, first as a working factory and since 1972 as a mill museum. The mill with its machines tells how wood-pulp board was made from spruce wood.

The authentic and idyllic Verla is the only wood processing industry site on the Unesco World Heritage List. Verla’s first small groundwood mill started operations in 1872, but was soon destroyed by fire (in 1874). A new groundwood mill and a board mill were built in 1882. These mill buildings were wooden and the drying room was destroyed by fire in 1893. The buildings were then replaced by richly-ornamented brick structures you can see today. Buildings are designed by the architect Eduard Dippell. The groundwood and board mill continued its operations using 19^th century methods until 1964, and the mill re-opened its doors as Finland’s first mill museum in 1972. Verla was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

The village grew around the mill. Only a small part of such industrial communities have survived to this day. Verla tells about the life of past generations in a small village community where the mill took care of the entire village. Verla’s stories and the stages of pulp and board making can be explored on guided tours at Verla Mill Museum.

The World Heritage Site is owned and maintained by UPM.

Home Page

Contact

ERIH Anchorpoint
UNESCO Heritage site
Kymenlaakso Industrial Heritage Route

UPM Verla Mill Museum
Verlantie 295
47850 Verla

Highlight

History

The World Heritage Site Verla is a unique mill complex from the early years of the Finnish forest industry. This mill, which produced light wood-pulp board as its main product, closed its doors in 1964. Eight years later, it opened its doors as a Finland’s first mill museum. 1972 was a suitable time, as it marked the centenary of both Verla’s industrial operations and the founding of Kymi corporation, which owned the mill. Veikko Talvi (1911-2011), Counsellor of Education proposed that the opening of the museum should be part of the company’s 100th anniversary programme.

Both the buildings and the machinery of the mill date from the late 1800s and the first years of the 1900s. The last major renovations and acquisitions of the mill were made in the 1920s in connection with the electrification of the machinery. However, most of the machines represent technology from the 1800s. This meant that the mill became obsolete long before it closed and towards the mid-1900s to such an extent that it would no longer have been profitable enough. The same reason that makes Verla unique also led to mill ending: old-fashioned technology that was hardly updated. The news of the closure of the mill came in 1952, when it was decided to harness the rapids for energy production. Production and personnel were gradually reduced.

Veikko Talvi, Kymi company’s Communications and Public Relations Manager, was prominently behind the idea of turning the mill into a museum. He inspired others to speak up and take action. The audience was receptive and the Kymi company behind the museum was very sympathetic, which made it possible for this remarkable site to be preserved. In 1967, the Kymi company’s holiday village was established in Verla. In other words, the museum was not built in a completely empty place, but was initially integrated into the holiday village. With the holiday village, Verla began to be seen more and more as an attraction site.

Talvi suggested to the company’s management that the mill should be turned into a museum immediately after its closure in 1964., and he made his first written proposal in 1966. Talvi supplemented this presentation the following year by mapping out which buildings should be preserved and which could be demolished.

The board of directors of Star Paper Mills Limited, Kymi company’s English subsidiary company, visited Verla in June 1969 and their chairman asked whether Verla should be turned into a museum, to which Kymi’s management replied that the plans were ready. The museum committee was established on the same day. The task of the committee was to draw up a restoration plan, a cost estimate and a concrete proposal for the project. At that time, Verla was also visited by other visitor groups from the company. There has also been talk of establishing a museum while the mill was still operating.