House of the Estates

The House of the Estates is a cultural and historical monument and a government meeting and reception venue located on Snellmaninkatu in the Kruununhaka district of Helsinki, opposite the Bank of Finland.

Many people are familiar with the House of the Estates – the government formation talks are held there, and it served as the venue for negotiations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The High Court of Impeachment has convened at the House of the Estates four times. War crimes tribunals were held there in 1945 and 1946.

The House of the Estates has been used for various purposes at different times:

• 1891–1906 Place of assembly for the Diet of the Estates  
• 1906–1931 Parliament building and library  
• 1931–1978 House of Learned Societies  
• 1978– Government meeting and reception venue

The first parliament building

The House of the Estates, designed in Neo-Renaissance style by Gustaf Nyström, was completed in 1890. It was originally built to serve as the meeting place of the non-noble estates of the Diet of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Nyström also designed the nearby National Archives building, which had been completed the previous year. 

The Diet consisted of four estates – the nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants – which convened to deliberate on legislative proposals submitted to them. Each estate met separately. 

The Diet of the Grand Duchy of Finland began to convene regularly from 1863 onwards, and these regular sessions required sufficiently large premises. The nobility already had a meeting place, the House of the Nobility, which was completed in 1862. The other three estates met in various locations until they were given their own premises in the House of the Estates.  Before the parliamentary reform of 1906, the Diet met there seven times.

Construction

The construction of the House of the Estates was a major societal undertaking. It was designed to serve as a practical representation of all non-noble Finns, while symbolising Finland as a unified geographical and historical whole.  The project emphasised legality and Finnish identity, as well as the idea of educating and cultivating the nation.

In 1887, a design competition was held for a Diet building for the three non-noble estates, to be built opposite the Bank of Finland.  The winner of the competition was Gustaf Nyström. The Senate confirmed his revised design in December 1888.

The House of the Estates was built between 1888 and 1890 and opened to the public in January 1891. Upon completion, it was praised for its architectural elegance and functionality. It was among the first buildings in Helsinki to be equipped with electric lighting from the outset The building featured a variety of technical innovations, such as cleverly concealed heating and ventilation equipment and a telephone system. Architect Gustaf Nyström  also designed most of the building’s furniture.

Influences from abroad

Having studied in Vienna, Nyström is considered to have drawn strong inspiration from the Austrian Parliament Building, which was completed in 1883. In his correspondence, Nyström emphasised that the colossal order – large columns extending over two or more storeys, derived from classical antiquity and Renaissance architecture – also appeared in almost all contemporary parliamentary buildings around the world.

Ornate interiors

The interior and exterior surfaces of the House of the Estates are fully plastered. The ornate interiors represent the height of 19th-century decorative painting. The firm of Salomon Wuorio decorated the premises in Renaissance style, employing rich material and spatial illusion. Decorative techniques were used to imitate expensive types of stone as well as fine wood.

Upon entering, one arrives in a large, glass-roofed staircase hall surrounded by colonnades and side corridors and illuminated by painted skylights.  The most monumental interior space of the building, the staircase hall is characteristic of 19th-century European public buildings, from opera houses to administrative offices. Members of the different estates, which otherwise met separately, could encounter one another in these spacious surroundings.

Maintenance repainting was carried out in the interiors between 1900 and 1904.  At that time, Finnish national motifs were added to the ceiling paintings, and new colours – yellow and red borrowed from the Finnish coat of arms – were introduced. The lighter colour palette and nature-inspired symbols reflect the then-fashionable Art Nouveau style and National Romanticism.

The LEX group of sculptures

The LEX group of sculptures, designed by Walter Runeberg, was installed in the main staircase in 1893. The work is a bronze-painted plaster version of the group of sculptures featured on the pedestal of the Alexander II statue erected the following year in Senate Square. A gilded plaster version of the same group of sculptures stands in the Hall of State of the Presidential Palace.

Assembly halls

On the second floor, the clergy, burgher, and peasant estates were each given their own assembly halls.  These three large halls rise through two storeys and include galleries from which the public could observe the proceedings. The Hall of the Clergy occupies the most prestigious position on the side of the building’s main façade. The halls of the burghers and peasants are located along the long sides of the building, with the Hall of the Burghers facing south towards the city and the Hall of the Peasants facing north towards the countryside. The decorations in the burghers’ and peasants’ assembly halls reflect livelihoods, while the clergy’s hall features symbols of Christianity and the Church. 

Pediment sculptures

A separate design competition was organised for the pediment sculptures, with the development of the Finnish people up to the year 1809 designated as the theme. The winning proposal by Emil Wikström depicts the Diet of Porvoo. The work shows Tsar Alexander I confirming the laws and national rights of Finland. He is surrounded by symbolic figures representing the development and cultivation of the Finnish people. he events of the Diet of Porvoo were regarded as laying the foundation for Finland’s autonomy and constitutional status. Wikström’s design was approved in 1894, and the sculptures were unveiled in 1903.

Use by Parliament, learned societies and the Government 

Following the parliamentary reform of 1906, a unicameral Parliament became Finland’s highest legislative body, and the Diet of the Estates was abolished. The House of the Estates was too small for plenary sessions with the 200 Members of Parliament, but it remained in parliamentary use. Committee meetings were held there, and it also housed the Library of Parliament.  

When the Parliament House was completed in 1931, control of the House of the Estates was transferred by Government decision to the Ministry of Education. The Ministry then allocated the building to the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. Until 1978, it was known as the House of Learned Societies, housing the offices of 65 different societies at its peak. Funding for maintenance came primarily through the Ministry of Education. State institutions also continued to organise meetings in the building, and the University of Helsinki held lectures there.  

The events at the House of the Estates that have attracted the greatest public attention were the war crimes tribunals in the winter of 1945–1946 and the four sessions of the High Court of Impeachment held there. 

In the late 1970s, the Government needed additional reception space in central Helsinki, and the House of the Estates was handed over to the Prime Minister’s Office in 1978.  The library of the learned societies was moved to the University of Helsinki Library, and the societies themselves vacated the building in 1988. Following extensive restoration carried out between 1988 and 1993, the House of the Estates has been used by the ministries as a meeting, reception and banquet venue.  

The building underwent a second major renovation between 2023 and 2025. The interior surfaces of this culturally and historically valuable building had become worn and its technical systems outdated. During the renovation, the façades of the building were restored, the painted interior decorations were conserved and the building’s technical systems were modernised.

Literature

• Helander, Vilhelm, Susan Sinisalo, ja Simo Rista. Säätytalo: The House of Estates Helsinki. Helsinki: Edita, 1999. 
• Winterhalter, Kati. Bonsdorff, Mikko: Säätytalo. Julkisivujen vaiheet. Arkkitehtitoimisto Okulus. Espoo 2020.  
• Winterhalter, Kati. Bonsdorff, Mikko. Jousi, Jenni: Säätytalo. Tilojen historia. Arkkitehtitoimisto Okulus. Espoo. 2023.