Important dates

1749
The first prison was built in the Katajanokka area in 1749. It was called the Helsinki crown prison, and it was a wooden building with five rooms and a small entrance hall.

1837
In 1832, Nicholas I of Russia approved the design of and gave authorisation to build a new stone prison next to the former prison. The Helsinki county prison was completed in 1837. There were 12 prison cells, two rooms for guards and a chapel. The chapel room of the old part of the building has been in its original use since its completion. It is the second oldest church in Helsinki.

1888
Later, the old part was transformed into an administrative building, with cell wings added in 1888. There were 164 cells.

1944
The Helsinki county prison was hit in an air raid on 6 February 1944. An aerial bomb exploded at 8:30pm near the prison bakery, killing a guard and starting a fire. Five prisoners saw their chance and escaped.

2002
The prison was closed in 2002 and the last prisoners were transported to the new Vantaa prison.

2006
The construction work at Hotel Katajanokka began. Bars were removed, new windows added and tons of soil transported away. The garden walls, outer walls of the building and the central hallway protected by the National Board of Antiquities were preserved almost in their original form.

2007
In the middle of May, the historical prison milieu of Katajanokka comes to life as a high-class hotel.

Prison life

At the end of 1800s, the prison officials included a director, a preacher, a doctor, an accountant and a teacher. The staff included a foreman, a caretaker, a parish clerk and the male and female guards.

In 1826 an order was given that men who were granted pardon from a death sentence were to be expatriated to Siberia. In 1847 the expatriation order was extended to women. From 1826 to 1888, a total of 3,321 people were expatriated from Finland to Siberia. 86% of these were men.

The 1866 statutory law divided imprisonment sentences into three groups: penal servitude, water and bread sentence and imprisonment. The purpose of penal servitude was defined as holding the prisoner, utilising the labour force and improvement of the prisoner with education, discipline and work.

In the 1940s, there was no sewerage in the prison basement. There was a gutter in the middle of the basement corridor, with rats as occasional visitors.

After the war, the prison building was improved over a long period of time. Prisoners did construction work, working with wood, iron and electrical wiring. In the cells, brushes and carpets were manufactured. Female prisoners weaved, washed, mangled and ironed. They also stitched the edges of army handkerchiefs. 35,000 handkerchiefs were ordered from the prison.

The food was very simple in the post-war period, mostly soup and occasionally salted meat. For breakfast, the prisoners had gruel or porridge. Once a week there were boiled potatoes and salted Baltic herrings for breakfast.

In the 1950s, tomatoes grew along the prison wall. On the other side of the wall, carrots and beetroot were grown. In front of the officers' house there was a flowerbed; the director's wife sold the flowers in the marketplace.

In 1950, there were clubs for study, gymnastics, sports, singing and chess as well as for English language at the Nokka prison. All sentenced prisoners were allowed to participate in club activities.

In the 1960s, approximately 10,000 prisoners went through the Helsinki county prison every year. Sometimes even 30 prisoners had to be put in a cell built for eight.

Source: Jaana Veikkola, Helsingin lääninvankilan historiikki