Kansallisarkisto

The National Archives Service consists of the National Archives and seven Provincial Archives operating under it. The National Archives developed from the Senate Archives founded in 1816. The first Provincial Archives in Finland were established in the early decades of the 20th century. Finland was governed from Stockholm during the era of Swedish reign and was annexed to Russia in 1809 as an autonomous grand duchy with a separate Finnish central administration. Records concerning Finland were transferred from Sweden to the Senate Archives which eventually began receiving material from other offices. In 1869, the Senate Archives were renamed the State Archives, and then, in 1994, they became the National Archives.The establishment of Provincial Archives was proposed at the Diet of Finland already in 1888. However, the first Provincial Archives were founded only in 1927 in Hämeenlinna. The respective Provincial Archives of Oulu and Turku were established in 1932, Mikkeli (Vyborg) in 1934, and Vaasa in 1936. Two more Provincial Archives opened in Jyväskylä in 1967 and Joensuu in 1974.

The task of Finland's National Archives is to ensure that documents belonging to the national cultural heritage are preserved and to promote their use for research. Research and development in the sector is also part of its remit.

The duties of the National Archives are stipulated in the National Archives Act (HE191/2016).

The National Archives has three service areas carrying out its tasks: Administrative Services, Information Services and Research and Expert Services. The Archives has nine different branches all around Finland with a total of 240 employees. The Director General of the National Archives has the title of National Archivist.

The National Archives have several branches throughout Finland.

Helsinki
Rauhankatu 17
+358 29 533 7000

The Sámi Archives, Inari
Menesjärventie 2A
+358 50 408 3062

Hämeenlinna
Aittatie 2
+358 29 533 7140

Joensuu
Yliopistokatu 6 A
+358 29 533 7160

Jyväskylä
Pitkäkatu 23
+358 29 533 7180

Mikkeli
Pirttiniemenkatu 8 A
+358 29 533 7200

Oulu
Arkistokatu 6
+358 29 533 7230

Turku
Aninkaistenkatu 11
+358 29 533 7260

Vaasa
Varastokatu 2
+358 29 533 7300

The National Archives hold around 103 shelf-kilometres of records dating from the Middle Ages to the present day. The oldest document, a letter of protection given by King Birger to the women of Karelia, dates from 1316. The oldest continuous series of records, the accounts of the bailiffs (voudintilit), begin at the end of the 1530s. There are also series of accounts of the provincial administration, court records and land survey maps dating from the period when Finland was a part of the kingdom of Sweden. The most important sources from the period of autonomy are the large archives of the Senate, the State Secretariat and the Chancery of the Governor-General.

The National Archives accepts records older than 40 years to be stored permanently from state and central government agencies as well as district and local authorities operating in the Helsinki region. Around 10–15 per cent of the records of the public authorities are stored permanently. The National Archives also acquires private archives as donations or deposits. Private archives include papers of statesmen, politicians, influential people in society and culture as well as of ordinary citizens and different organisations. The copy collections are comprehensive and popular, especially the General List of Settlement in Finland and copies of historical parish records used by genealogists. Moreover, the National Archives has copies on microfilm of the records stored in the Provincial Archives, parish archives as well as foreign archives. The archival records older than about the turn of the 20th century of all Evangelical-Lutheran parishes in Finland are available on microfilm in the National Archives. Furthermore, the National Archives has a considerable number of maps and drawings, the oldest of which date from the 1650s. Computer data has also been transferred to the National Archives, the most comprehensive of which is the material transferred by the Population Register Centre.

The following archives in the custody of the National Archives are worth mentioning separately: transcribed records of the lower courts of justice from the 17th century; the archives of the Imperial Senate 1809–1918; the archives of central administrative boards from the beginning of the 19th century; supreme court archives since 1918; the archives of Porvoo Cathedral Chapter and several parishes in the Province of Uusimaa; the archives of the Defence Forces since 1918; records from the war years 1939–1945; the archives of all of Finland’s presidents except those of Urho Kekkonen and Martti Ahtisaari; the archives of the provincial government of Uusimaa from the 17th century; archives of district and local authorities in the Province of Uusimaa; government and ministerial archives dating back to 1918; the archives of the State Secretariat and the Chancery of the Governor-General 1809–1918; archives of the judicial administration in Old Finland, which belonged to the Russian empire in 1721–1812; Russian military records 1722–1918; accounts of bailiffs and administrative provinces 1537–1808; military records prior to 1809. In January 2008, the collections of the former Military Archives (Sota-arkisto) were integrated into the collections of the National Archives.