Kosola House

The Kosola House is a large, traditional Ostrobothnian peasant house built of logs. It is beautifully located on a river shore in the middle of a nationally valuable cultural landscape in South Ostrobothnia in Western Finland.

South Ostrobothnia in Finland is as distinctive and exotic as Scotland in the UK. The dialect spoken in the region might well be a language of its own, the musical tradition is very rich, and the people of the region have a strong provincial identity. The most distinctive feature of the landscape are the vast expanses of cultivated fields and the large, traditional Ostrobothnian peasant houses made of logs that still dominate the landscape here and there. South Ostrobothnia is a province of culture and food, criss-crossed by its slowly flowing rivers.

The history of the Kosola House, dating back to 18th century, is exceptional. It is a story of strong entrepreneurs and educators, of the “knife junker” phenomenon of fighting and crime that plagued the Ostrobothnian area in Finland, and of the local sheriffs who raised against it. It is a story of strong agriculture, of emigration to America and of pietism. It is also a story of the Jaeger movement that had a decisive impact on Finland’s independence, and the spirit of rebellion and strive to exert influence in the tumultuous first years of independence.

The story of the Kosola House is a story of violence and stability, force and counter-force – the story of South Ostrobothnia.

Story-telling programmes in the Kosola house

The distinctive cultural history of Southern Ostrobothnia is condensed in the Kosola House. The story guides of the Kosola house tell the colorful history of the house and South Ostrobothnia in an entertaining, illustrated way, and explain Ostrobothnian culture.

The group may choose a special theme on which the story will focus. For example:

Finland’s wild west: What explains the emerge of the knife junker phenomenon in South Ostrobothnia? Corruption and the Lapua Law intended to harness it. Who were the “häjys”, what did it mean, what did they do – what ended the phenomenon? Who was Adolf Hägglund, a celebrity of his time, the famous ‘ugly sheriff’ of Kauhava?
Fatherland’s turbulent years: Period of Russian oppression in Finland and the days before Finland’s independence, when the Kosola House served as a jaeger post and a place to hide weapons. In the turbulent early years of independence, with the advent of the anti-communist Lapua Movement, the house was a focal point on the nation’s political map known to all contemporaries. What kind of man was the most famous resident of the house, Vihtori Kosola, and what kind of life did Vihtori and his wife Eelin lead in Kosola?
Spiritual life: Vihtori Kosola as a young boy attending confirmation school and his spiritual experiences as a ‘behind-bars jaeger’ in St. Petersburg. The decades of the Kosola House as headquarters of the Awakening movement, and about the volunteer ‘carpenter Christians’ in the neighbouring eastern countries.
Kosola House as a building heritage site: About examining the building history of the house, about the causes of the damage detected in the house structures and the methods used to repair them, as well as about traditional, organic building materials. In connection with this theme, we will also take a peek at the unfinished section, where the restoration is still ongoing, in compliance with the safety instructions given.
General presentation of the Kosola House and the personal history of its residents.

Kosola House story guides: Taina Hautamäki & Heli Karhumäki

Prices for guided story tours in 2024 for groups of at least 20 people: