From a Nut Cabin to a Gold Museum of the whole world!

The story of the Gold Museum began with only a shoebox of photographs. In March 1973, at the spring meeting of the Lapland Gold Prospectors’ Association, it was decided to establish a museum to record the history of gold in Lapland. In the first year the activities were quite small, but after a couple of years the museum got its own exhibition building, the Nut Cabin. In 1978, the exhibition moved to warmer premises in Härkäselkä building. Both buildings have been used by loggers and gold prospectors before the museum, and can still be seen in the outdoor museum area. 

The Gold Museum Association took over the museum in 1982 — the same year the foundations of the present museum building were laid. An exhibition on the colourful history of gold in Lapland was opened the following year. The opening of the international exhibition Golden World was celebrated in 1995 when it got its own building under the world’s largest gold pan. These two architecturally interesting buildings are connected by an above-ground mining tunnel. The indoor exhibition space is around 1 000 m². 

Today, the Gold Museum is run by the private Gold Museum Foundation, established in 2009. The municipalities of Sodankylä and Inari, Metsähallitus, Wihuri Group and Gold Museum Support Association are represented in the foundation, as well as private individuals. The Gold Museum is professionally managed and is one of the museums receiving Finland’s state subsidies. 

For more information about the foundation and the museum, please contact the Museum Director Kaisa Nikkilä (firstname.lastname@kultamuseo.fi)