Location: Snellmaninkatu 1A, Helsinki
Constructed: 1818- 22
Government Palace of Finland or the State Council Castle (previously
Senataintalo, current name adopted on November 27, 1918, Swedish:
Statsrådsborgen) is located on the edge of Senate Square in Kruununhaa,
Helsinki. The building was designed by the architect Carl Ludvig Engel,
its construction began in 1818 and was completed in 1822.
The
castle was originally built for the Finnish Senate, which operated in
the premises from 1822–1918. During independence, the Senate's place was
taken by the Government Council, according to which the house got its
current name. Today, the Prime Minister's Office of the Prime Minister,
the Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and most of the Ministry
of Finance operate in the Government Castle.
When Helsinki was made the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland in
1812, facilities for the central administration had to be built there.
In 1816, Carl Ludvig Engel was hired as the architect of the city's
reconstruction committee, whose first tasks were to design a building
for the senate and central offices.
The Senate building was
placed in the block east of Senatintor, which was reserved for it in
Johan Albrecht Ehrenström's site plan. The buildings on the block,
including the Burgman house, had been destroyed in the 1808 fire.
Construction work began in 1818, and the west wing facing Senate Square
was commissioned in 1822, when the Senate moved into the building. The
southern wing, facing Aleksanterinkatu, was completed in 1824, the
eastern wing facing Ritarikatu in 1828, and the northern wing facing
Hallituskatu only in 1853 under the leadership of Engel's successor,
Ernst Lohrmann. The east wing was rebuilt in 1916 according to Jacob
Ahrenberg's plans.
Eugen Schauman shot Governor-General Nikolai
Bobrikov to death on the landing of the second floor of the castle in
1904. A commemorative plaque was later attached to the place of death.
Engel approached the design of the Senate building with ambition. The
building was his first major work in Helsinki, and it was intended to
serve the central administration of the entire Grand Duchy of Finland.
In addition, Senatintalo was the first new building to rise on the edge
of Senatintor, so its style determined the future architectural
appearance of the entire square.
The facade of the building
facing the Senate Square represents a structure typical of
neoclassicism, and examples of St. Petersburg buildings have been sought
for it. The facade is dominated by the central rhizalite decorated with
columns and end triangles, and the side rhizalites decorated with
pilasters. The columns are Greek-style, Corinthian, which in the
architectural language of that time symbolizes state power. When Engel
later designed the university's main building on the opposite side of
the square, he made its facade essentially identical to the Senate
building, but equipped it with Greek, Ionian, columns symbolizing
civilization.
On the Senate Square side, in the end triangle of the building and in
the yard, there are tower clocks with a common mechanism. The clock was
made by Jaakko Könni, a member of the Könni clockmaking family from
Ilmajoki, and he went to install it with his son in September 1822.
Engel originally ordered the clock from a German clockmaker, but had to
cancel the order, because the senate made an order from "some peasant
from Ostrobothnia", as Engel wrote to his friend in annoyance.
The clock faces underwent their first thorough maintenance in the winter
of 2010–2011. They were removed and dismantled in September. Master
goldsmith Raimo Snellman was responsible for the work. Like empire
watches, the dial is black again, as it was in the beginning, when it
has sometimes been light blue. The rim still has the original gilding
after the restoration, but the hands and numbers around the board have
been gilded again. 500 sheets of gold were used for the gilding. The
gilding is estimated to last 60 years. The hands have the wings of the
Russian Eagle, presumably due to a national purpose. The numbers were
originally upright, but were turned sideways before the original
installation. The clock face on the Senate Square side was returned to
its place in April 2011, the one on the courtyard side in June 2011.
The clock has been wound by hand since 1920 every Wednesday by a
watchmaker from the Widemark watchmaker's shop. The diameter of the
clock is 1.35 meters.
Despite its large size and handsome appearance, the State
Government Castle has few festive interiors, as it was
designed as an office building. Perhaps the most famous
spaces in the castle are the presentation hall of the
president of the republic and the main staircase, which have
remained almost unchanged since Engel's time.
The
President's Presentation Hall, or the former Senate Chamber,
is on the second floor of the building, above the main doors
and main lobby. During the period of autonomy, the senate
held its general session in the hall under the chairmanship
of the governor general. After independence, the hall has
been used for joint meetings of the President of the
Republic and the Government Council, i.e. for the
President's presentations to the Government Council. The
richly decorated, oval-shaped hall surrounded by marbled
columns is the most handsome room in the building.
During the autonomy period, at the end of the hall, behind
the chairman's chair, there was a throne, a symbol of the
emperor's power, and on top of it the double-headed eagle of
Russia. The walls were decorated with portraits of emperors.
After independence, these symbols of Russian power were
removed from the hall, and today they are on display in the
National Museum. Nowadays, there is a portrait of the
sitting president on the end wall of the hall, and portraits
of former presidents on the side walls. Presidents from K.
J. Ståhlberg to J. K. Paasikivi hang in the meeting hall,
the newer presidents have been placed in the vestibule of
the hall due to lack of space.
In connection with the
President's presentation hall, on the second floor on the
Senate Square side, the Government Council's actual session
hall and the Prime Minister's office are also located. The
latter, formerly the room of the vice chairman of the Senate
Finance Department, is a well-preserved example of the
building's original furnishings.
The large library
hall in the east wing, which was built for the state
archives, was originally part of the building's significant
spaces. However, the hall was demolished in 1916, when the
east wing was raised to three floors.