The Museums of Lappeenranta picture collections include photographs and other picture material from Lappeenranta, the current region of South Karelia and the so-called ceded South Karelia extending from Terijoki to Jaakkima. The material is mainly accumulated through donations and the museum’s photography activities.

The museum’s picture collections contain approximately 180,000 photographs. The picture archive contains various photographic materials from the late 19th century to the present day. A significant part of the pictures is from Lappeenranta, with a large collection of city and landscape photographs and pictures of events and persons related to the city’s phases. There are also photographs and postcards from all the South Karelia municipalities and the ceded area. Some pictures are from the other ceded areas, such as Valamo, the northern parishes of the province of Viipuri and the Gulf of Finland islands.

Separate sub-collections include the picture collection of photographer Aarne A. Mikonsaari, the former photograph collection of the Lappeenranta City Archives, Jalmari and Juha Lankinen’s Viipuri-related collection, the negative collection of Imatra-based Kosken studio and the negative archive of the Lappeenranta-based photographer’s studio, Kuvapaja.

The Wiipuri Museum, Cavalry Museum and Wolkoff Museum collections also include a lot of picture material. The Viipuri Museum collections contain about 5,000 photographs or postcards from Viipuri and the surrounding areas. The Cavalry Museum collection consists of pictures from the times of the Finnish Dragoon Regiment and the Cavalry Brigade until the time of the Uusimaa Dragoon Battalion. The Wolkoff collection contains photographs of the history of the Orthodox merchant family who moved from Russia to Lappeenranta in the 19th century.

Explore the museum’s picture collections in Finna.

More information about the services offered by the Museums of Lappeenranta picture archive is available here.