The landmark granite building in Siltasaari – Paasitorni – was designed by architect Karl Lindahl and completed in 1908 to serve as the Helsinki Workers’ House. The building has been owned since its inception by the Helsinki Workers’ Association, Finland’s first workers’ association formed in 1883 and officially established in 1884.
The history of the Helsinki Workers’ Association is like the history of the Finnish labour movement in a nutshell. It also remains a significant chapter in the history of Finland.
The Unesco Memory of the World Programme preserves and protects the world’s documentary heritage, and enables universal access to documentary heritage and enhances public awareness of it.
The Helsinki Workers’ Association archives have been selected for Finland’s national register for the Unesco Memory of the World Programme. The selection criteria for materials to be included in the register are authenticity, uniqueness and irreplaceability as well as cultural significance.
The complete archives of the Helsinki Workers’ Association are accessible at the Labour Archives, and some of the materials can also be viewed remotely in a digital format.
Read more about the Memory of the World Programme here
Read more about the Helsinki Workers’ Association archives here
Read more about the Labour Archives here
Photo: A drawing for the Helsinki Workers’ House by architect Karl Lindahl, the Labour Archives